Winnipeg police justified in shooting woman with beanbags, pepper balls, Taser: watchdog

Manitoba's police watchdog says officers were justified in using a series of less-lethal weapons on a knife-wielding woman who stabbed someone on a Winnipeg Transit bus before barricading herself in a Main Street restaurant earlier this year.

The actions of the officers represented "a textbook example" in dealing with an armed individual without causing significant physical harm or death, states a report from the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, released on Friday.

Police were called just after 6 p.m. on March 22 to Main Street and Euclid Avenue with a report a woman on a bus had stabbed another passenger, who was in a wheelchair. The woman then ran into a nearby pizza restaurant and locked then door.

When officers arrived, the woman was seen inside the restaurant, rocking side to side in what police described as "a mental trance," saying she had "a thousand mile stare," according to the IIU report.

Officers repeatedly told the woman to drop the knife, asking her to talk to them, but there was no response other than one time when she said, "No, you're not the police," the report states.

Worried for staff inside the restaurant, some officers went to the rear of the building, where employees let them into the kitchen area.

About a half hour later, after repeatedly trying to engage the woman in conversation, a decision was made to shoot pepper balls — plastic projectiles that burst open and release a scented powder.

After multiple rounds still had no effect, police used a shotgun that fires beanbag-type rounds. After being struck with at least 34 pepper balls and six beanbag rounds, the woman continued to hold the knife, the report says.

She then moved to front door and appeared to unlock it, prompting an officer to lean on the door to prevent her from pushing it open and escaping while she was still armed, according to the IIU report.

Taser in the leg 

One of the officers inside the restaurant then moved closer to the woman, whose back was turned to him, and fired a Taser at her leg, which caused her to fall. Officers moved in, took the knife from the woman and handcuffed her, the report says.

The IIU was notified because the woman sustained bruising and lacerations to a hand and arm, which constitutes a serious enough injury to be investigated.

She was sent to the Health Sciences Centre where she was treated for her injuries and taken back into police custody.

In the meantime, the woman on the bus who was attacked and stabbed in the hand told officers she was in pain but OK.

IIU investigators examined officers' notes and reports, 911 calls, radio transmissions and various surveillance video footage (from the bus, the restaurant and neighbouring businesses) from the incident.

They also attempted to interview the woman but she declined, saying "I don't want nothing to do with that," according to the report, which was delayed in being released to the public until the woman's charges had been dealt with by the courts.

In its findings, the investigative unit said the officers' use of force was necessary and reasonable, and did not recommend any charges against the officers involved.