Shooting victim ‘put everybody first’
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.00 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.00 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/07/2025 (240 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
KEESEEKOOWENIN OJIBWAY FIRST NATION — A woman who was killed in a suspected targeted shooting early Monday morning is being remembered as a loving and selfless person by her family in Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation.
Vanessa Bone, a 33-year-old mother of four, is journeying to the spirit world this week, her family said, following her sudden death. Family have gathered outside her home and dug a fire pit, ignited it with medicine, and stewarded the flames for more than 48 hours.
The fire ritual guides Bone through her four-day journey to the other side, family members told the Sun. They were grieving together around the bonfire, as its smoke drifted skyward on Wednesday afternoon.
“She never went to bed angry with anybody,” said one man, sitting in a lawn chair in the hot afternoon sunlight. “She put everybody first. She never held any grudges. She was always there.”
No arrests had been made in the shooting as of Wednesday afternoon and the investigation is ongoing.
Family members interviewed by the Sun did not want their names to be published. More than a dozen were circled around the fire.
Bone’s house stood just 50 feet away. It was marked with forensic gunshot stickers beside bullet holes.
At about 2:45 a.m. on Monday, she was lying in her bed and more than 20 bullets pierced through the exterior wall directly into her bedroom. Bone was struck by at least one bullet. She was later pronounced dead by paramedics on the scene.
Holes in the walls of her bedroom show how a barrage of bullets carried over her bed, around photos of her children and exited into the living room. Her children were not in the home at the time.
A 26-year-old man who was in the home suffered a gunshot wound but survived the attack, police said in a news release Monday.
RCMP said the man was treated at the scene and then transported by air ambulance to hospital in serious condition. He was later released.
The man had been shot in the leg and described fleeing to the opposite end of the home, family told the Sun. A group of bullet holes also marked the wall of a second room in the house.
Due to the amount of gunshots at the scene, family believe multiple firearms were used in the attack. Roughly 40 bullets were fired into the home, they said.
RCMP did not comment on the number of suspected firearms used in the shooting when asked on Wednesday.
Bone’s family is planning a funeral for this weekend. In the meantime, they gather around the fire. It was lit at 5 p.m. the day Bone died and will be allowed to burn out after 5 p.m. on Friday, marking the four-day journey of her spirit.
The fire pit will then be buried, as no fire pit is used twice in this ritual, family told the Sun.
They said Bone was the one to host these rituals at the same location for other family members over the years.
» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com
