A Manitoba mother is speaking out after her 21-year-old son died from what RCMP say was an animal attack, saying she believes a bear was responsible and criticizing what she calls a slow response from conservation officers. RCMP in Swan River say they received a report of a suspicious death in Sapotaweyak Cree Nation, just under 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, on Sept. 9. Officers arrived to find a 21-year-old man dead on a road in the community, and Manitoba RCMP’s Major Crime Services took over the investigation. An autopsy determined the preliminary cause of death was an animal attack, though RCMP say in a news release the specific animal has not been confirmed. Paula Campeau told CTV News that man was her son, Moses Campeau — who she described as an exceptionally strong, hard-working man who worked as a logger and was well known in the community. “My Moses was a gentleman,” she said. “People called on him all the time … he would take his shirt off his back for you. He was a jack of all trades.” She said her son was known for his physical strength. “He would throw tires around like nothing,” she said. “He was literally [lifting] up my washer, dryer all by himself, setting it up … like he was lifting up logs, gathering our firewood by himself. That’s how strong this man was.” She said Moses was returning to a gathering late at night after dropping off his brother when he was attacked. The gathering was a memorial celebration for his late cousin. Campeau said two women in a truck were the first to find her son after the attack. “He was still alive,” Campeau said. “He was on his back, lying on his back, and they were shocked to find him the way they found him.” She said his right arm was severely severed and he had wounds to his stomach and thigh area. The women covered his injuries with towels and a blanket while they sought help and attempted CPR she said, but were unable to save him. “He was groaning,” Campeau said. “About an hour and a half, (one of them) said he took his last breath.” “My son fought for his life,” she said. Shared Health told CTV News it took around an hour for an ambulance to arrive in the area. Because of the nature of his injuries, Campeau said RCMP initially treated the death as a homicide and brought in investigators from Brandon and Winnipeg. She said she was able to view her son’s face following the attack and saw none of the trauma she would expect from a violent assault. “There was no black eye, no cut lip, no bleeding nose,” she said. “He had like one scratch on his brow, and it was not a slice … it was a deep scratch.” “So I knew right away this boy was not killed by a human,” she said. “I knew that just by watching his face.” Campeau said an investigator later told the family that possible causes included a large dog, a wolf or a small bear. The family believes a bear — possibly a mother protecting a cub — was responsible, noting that a cub had been seen in the area in the days before the attack. She claims no one from Manitoba Conservation had come to the community as of Monday afternoon to set traps, despite bears having been spotted repeatedly near homes in the area. “This wait for them to bring their equipment is ridiculous,” she said. “They should have already been here setting up those traps.” In the meantime, she said the community has taken matters into its own hands. Her husband, a band councillor, has been talking with residents about organizing their own bear traps, she said, and young men have been patrolling by ATV at night to push bears back from the community’s edge. “It’s just the community — they’re just doing all this stuff to make their community safe,” she said. In a statement to CTV News, a provincial spokesperson said the Manitoba Conservation Officer Service’s predator attack team is taking part in the RCMP investigation. “While the work is continuing to make a determination on what kind of animal may have been involved, the preliminary investigation has been able to rule out a bear attack,” the statement reads in part. Campeau said she wants people to understand that even someone experienced in the outdoors can be at risk. “There’s unpredictability in this world,” she said. She said a funeral is planned for her son in the community later this month. With files from CTV’s Jon Hendricks
