Two Canadian teenage girls arrested for killing fellow student on Facebook Live

Two teenage girls in Canada, aged 16 and 17, beat a fellow student to death while streaming their actions on Facebook Live.

Once again Facebook Live has been in the news for a horrific and brutal reason. Two teenage girls have been arrested in Sagkeeng First Nation, northeast of Winnipeg in Canada, on charges of second-degree murder. The girls allegedly streamed a video on the social media platform, which showed the pair beating another teenager to death. 

The unidentified teenagers, aged 16 and 17, are students of Sagkeeng Anicinabe High School and are now in custody, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Teenage girls share brutal video footage via Facebook Live

As reported by the New York Daily News, the two girls shared the brutal and disturbing footage on their social media page and on a private instant messaging app, showing their violent assault of a fellow student, 19-year-old Serena McKay of Powerview-Pine Falls, Manitoba. The video footage was reportedly streaming on Facebook Live for almost four hours before it was finally taken down.
 

School principal believes drugs may have been involved in the attack

CBC News Manitoba reports that McKay was due to graduate this month. Her family last saw the teenager on April 23. However, that same day, the teenager was found dead near her home.

Claude Guimond, principal of the Sagkeeng Anicinab High School, told CBC News he believes drugs might possibly have been a factor in the brutal murder of McKay. He said after viewing the video footage, he believes no one in their right mind would commit such a terrible crime unless they were high and totally “out of it.”

The RCMP is still investigating the incident and is aware of the video, but would not, reportedly, confirm whether the person being attacked in the footage was McKay. According to Sgt. Paul Manaigre, authorities are reviewing the video to find out if it does form part of their investigation. Manaigre said that posting videos online is not a crime in itself. However, if someone was actively involved in a crime, that is a different aspect that would be investigated.

Two teen girls face murder charges for beating student to death on Facebook Live: report https://t.co/GShxhyaNad pic.twitter.com/9dKgQIB8Jd

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Manaigre added that it is shocking that such violent footage is currently being shared by people on social media. He said he cannot imagine what the family and the community is going through. Manaigre added that the Internet, as it is today, can be dangerous with everything people are putting out there.

A case of mistaken identity

The RCMP is also investigating a case of mistaken identity, after officers grabbed and handcuffed the wrong 16-year-old girl at a local bus stop. Police said in a statement that as soon as it was learned she was not one of the suspects in the crime, the girl was immediately released. However that teenager’s parents have reportedly filed a formal complaint about their daughter’s mistaken arrest.

Classmates of the teenagers are in shock over McKay’s death, according to Guimond. The principal added that the students interacted with the teenagers involved in the crime on a daily basis and cannot believe that something as horrific as this could happen. He added that grief counselors are on hand to speak with the students as and when they need it.

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