20-year-old Mountie Douglas Scott was shot and killed in the line of duty in Kimmirut, a small community in Nunavut.

Const. Douglas Scott became the second RCMP officer within a month to be gunned down in the region. His death comes as the national police force reviews its back-up policy and questions swirl around the practice of sending inexperienced officers to Canada's high Arctic.

"These incidents always cause reflection," Chief Supt. Fraser MacAuley said Tuesday during a news conference at RCMP headquarters in Ottawa.

At a news conference in Iqaluit on Tuesday, Supt. Martin Cheliak said Const. Scott was killed Monday night at about 11 p.m. while responding to a report of a possible impaired driver.

An individual has been taken into custody in relation to Scott's death, but no charges have been laid.

Scott, originally from Brockville, Ont., had only been with the RCMP for about six months.

"He was only 20 years old but already had demonstrated his commitment to the RCMP, to Canada, and to the community he willingly served," Cheliak said.