SaskatchewanThe fatal shooting of a 44-year-old local woman on a highway near Weyburn, Sask., has left many people in the community reeling. Some residents say they’re avoiding using highway where shooting happenedKatie Swyers · CBC News · Posted: Sep 17, 2025 6:05 PM EDT | Last Updated: September 17Weyburn Mayor Jeff Richards says many residents are feeling ‘a sense of dismay and shock and sadness’ following a fatal shooting near the city on Friday. (Katie Swyers/ CBC News)The fatal shooting of a 44-year-old local woman on a highway near Weyburn, Sask., has left many people in the community reeling. On Friday, Tanya Myers, 44, and another woman were driving toward Weyburn on Highway 39 in a Ford Explorer around 8 p.m. CST when Myers, who was in the passenger seat, was fatally hit by a bullet, according to RCMP. Police say another vehicle’s tire was also struck by a bullet in the same area at around the same time. “We know these families and we feel for them. And you know, we are all trying to understand what happened and having these unknowns makes it even harder,” Weyburn Mayor Jeff Richards said in an interview Tuesday. Richards has called the city, about 100 kilometres southeast of Regina, home for 30 years. He was elected mayor last November and describes the community of a little more than 11,000 people as “close-knit,” where neighbours are friends and everyone knows each other.”Frankly, some of them are angry because they don’t understand why something like this would happen — something so random,” Richards said. “It’s, right now, a sense of dismay and shock and sadness.”RCMP say two vehicles were hit by bullets while travelling on Highway 39 near Weyburn on Sept. 12, 2025. (Matt Howard/CBC)The RCMP’s major crimes unit is investigating and while “no suspect has been identified” by police, RCMP Supt. Joshua Graham told reporters Tuesday the investigation is ongoing. He said police are still determining the nature of the shooting, which Graham said was “not necessarily random” but they “don’t necessarily think it’s targeted either.”Richards said that while the RCMP is in charge of the investigation, it was Weyburn city police and local paramedics who were first to the scene. “This is traumatic [for] them and we’re grateful for them and for their service out there that night,” Richards said. “It’s very likely that they knew the individuals in that car because Weyburn is a small place.” Richards urged Weyburn residents to be wary “of the rumour mill,” stay vigilant and report anything that might be helpful in the investigation to the RCMP. RCMP have identified Tanya Myers, 44, as the woman who was shot on a highway near Weyburn in a mysterious shooting that police say could have been random, accidental or targeted. (Submitted by RCMP)Resident ‘horrified’ by shootingFaye Roesslein has called Weyburn home for most of her life and previously lived near where the shooting happened on Highway 39. She said she regularly drove that stretch of the highway but hasn’t been on it since the shooting, which “horrified” her.”Such a young girl, you know, to lose her life that way,” Roesslein said. “She’s just a young lady who was riding in a vehicle and something horrible happened to her.… It’s just hard to believe.”Alan York, a business owner in Weyburn, said he was initially shocked by the shooting but afterward, he was struck with “a profound sense of sadness that somebody has lost their life. It’s horrendous.” He said the incident has come up in “almost every conversation” he’s had with customers.Alan York says the shooting on Friday has come up in ‘almost every conversation’ he’s had with customers at his business in Weyburn. (Katie Swyers/ CBC News)York, who has lived in Weyburn for 65 years, said he has been on the highway where the shooting took place “thousands” of times. “It’s pretty innocuous. It just looks like a regular road coming into the city, lots of traffic,” he said, adding that, normally, it’s a safe place to be. Like Roesslein, York said he hasn’t been on that stretch of the road since last Friday. Neither has fellow local business owner Rob Travis. Before the shooting, Travis said he frequently drove that stretch. Now, he plans to use an alternate route to Regina for the next while, until more details about the shooting emerge. WATCH | Family of woman killed by gunshot on highway pleads for people to come forward: Family of woman killed by gunshot on highway pleads for people to come forwardRCMP have identified Tanya Myers, 44, as the woman who was shot on a highway near Weyburn in a mysterious shooting that police say could have been random, accidental or targeted. It’s a tragedy that’s left the small city shaken up. “They don’t have any idea what happened,” Travis said. “I’ve got my family with me.” He said he assumes the shooting was a case of “the wrong place at the wrong time,” but said, “I don’t want to be in that wrong place.” Travis said while police have assured the community there is no imminent threat, he feels uneasy that there’s no suspects. “A lot of people move here because it’s a small, safe community. That’s what small-town Saskatchewan’s supposed to be.”ABOUT THE AUTHORKatie Swyers is a reporter with CBC Saskatchewan, based in Regina. She is a 2021 Joan Donaldson Scholar and has previously worked for CBC Podcasts, CBC’s Marketplace, CBC’s network investigative unit, CBC Toronto, CBC Manitoba and as a chase producer for Canada Tonight on CBC News Network. You can reach her at katie.swyers@cbc.ca.
‘Profound sense of sadness’: Weyburn residents react to fatal highway shooting of local woman
