It's been a harrowing week for the residents of Gillam, Manitoba.

Two teens were named suspects in the deaths of three people in northern British Columbia back on July 23rd, and it was believed they were hiding in the small Manitoba community.

Tara Taylor is a former Portage la Prairie resident who now lives in Gillam.

Tara Taylor

"It's definitely less relaxed than it normally is," says Taylor. "Gillam's usually a pretty easy-going small town and since the news broke that these guys could be in the area, everybody's been a little more tense than usual and on edge and just unnerved, I guess is the best way to describe it."

When asked if she'd consider Gillam a ghost town the last few days, she says you could make that argument.

"People are trying to go about their business as far as going to work and there's contractors in town working with heavy equipment on projects and stuff but you don't see the same amount of foot traffic that we normally do," says Taylor. "People are usually out with their dogs, with their kids, and that's definitely at an absolute minimum. There's the odd person walking but it's not like it normally is."

RCMP had put out the public notice on the 23rd, and the news shook the community.

"It definitely shakes you up a little bit," says Taylor. "We have a very tight, close-knit remote community and to hear that someone like that has made their way into that little area that you call home is very unnerving."

RCMP have also been deploying resources to York Landing, after a "credible tip" came in that the two suspects (Kam McLeod, 19 & Bryer Schmegelsky, 18) may have moved on to that community.