Man killed in stolen vehicle crash was more than a gang member, say family, friends

In the weeks since her son's death, Agatha Eaglechief has seen the torrent of hate online. 

Her son Austin was speeding away from police in a stolen truck on Saskatoon's Circle Drive when he crashed into another vehicle and died. 

Earlier, Austin had apparently rammed a police cruiser and was fired at by a police officer.

Agatha said she hopes people don't jump to conclusions about her son — that they don't simply think of him as a petty criminal who deserved to die. 

"For all the negative people in Saskatoon who have negative things to say to me, look me up," she said. "I am praying for them."

'He's not just this bad guy'

Austin joined gangs, she said, after spending time in jail as a youth. 

He was first with the Terror Squad and most recently with the Indian Posse.

She believes that on the night of his death he stole the truck at the behest of higher-ups in the gang. 

She said that despite his gang ties, her son was a loving person who deserves justice. She hopes that even though the truck he was driving was stolen, there are still serious questions asked of police.

"I am hoping for justice for my son because he was wrongfully shot upon. The guy that did this needs to walk away from his job because he doesn't know how to control his own temper," she said. 

"I'm waiting, you know, and wanting answers. Like why?"

Devin Napope was a friend of Austin's.

He says too much of the conversation around his friend's death has been about gangs and gang life — and not enough is being said about the poverty, addiction and dysfunction that lead young people down that path.

"There's a lot of focus on the bad things he does. There's a lot of focus on that. Not the why or how he got there," he said. 

Napope is a former gang member himself who now works with Str8 Up, a gang-intervention group in Saskatoon. He said he hopes people will see his late friend as more than a criminal and a gang member.

Austin, he said, was a smart guy who was inspired for a time by the Idle No More movement and even once wrote a letter to local paper criticizing then-prime minister Stephen Harper's stance on Indigenious issues. 

Like so many who end up in the gang life, he said, there was more to Austin than crime and drugs. 

"I would just like everybody to know the real Austin. That he did have feelings, he did laugh and love. He's just like everybody else. He's not just this bad guy," he said.

Investigation ongoing, police say

Police say the investigation into Austin's death is still ongoing. 

While the autopsy showed the gunshots did not kill Austin, Agatha Eaglechief says she still want answers from police —especially about why her son was shot at that day. 

"Those shots. He didn't even know where they were coming from," she said.

"I'm still lost for words. Because my son is never going to come home and I'm never going to have grandchildren or great-grandchildren."