Officers did nothing wrong in fatal shooting of father of 4, investigator finds
Man, 44, died after incident with police north of Winnipeg in September 2015
Winnipeg police officers were justified in shooting a father of four who died north of Winnipeg more than a year ago, investigators say.
A 44-year-old man died after a shooting involving police near Birds Hill Provincial Park at the Highway 59 and Kirkness Road intersection on Sept. 20, 2015.
On Thursday, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba confirmed none of the officers at the scene that day will be charged in connection with the shooting.
Ron MacDonald, director of the Serious Incident Response Team in Nova Scotia, oversaw the independent investigation and found the three officers' actions were "unavoidable" given the circumstances.
Before the man's death in 2015, police received a call from a concerned family member who reported the man was suicidal and driving a white van. Officers found the man in Transcona and followed his vehicle.
"[Officers] conducted a stop of that vehicle and then dealt with the occupant," Zane Tessler, director of the Independent Investigation Unit, said at the time, adding he couldn't confirm whether the driver of the van had a gun. "Moments later officers were required to use their service weapons and discharge their firearms."
Officers at the scene stated the man exited the van with a gun in his hand pointed toward them.
The case was initially picked up by the IIU, as it is tasked with investigating all serious incidents involving on- and off-duty police officers in Manitoba. But Tessler cited a conflict of interest, stating he knew the man who was killed, so MacDonald from the Serious Incident Response Team in Nova Scotia took over.
Under MacDonald's direction the IIU interviewed the three officers and reviewed the scene, autopsy report and other evidence gathered by Winnipeg police.
MacDonald focused on whether the pursuit of the man was justified and whether police were justified in the eyes of the law in shooting him.
Based on what the man's family reported to 911 dispatchers in the lead-up to the shooting, MacDonald said police were "amply justified" in trying to pull the man over.
"His action of pointing his pistol at a police officer is consistent with a person who wishes to instigate a police shooting to accomplish that purpose," MacDonald writes in the report. "This is an unfortunate yet recurring circumstance seen across Canada in situations similar to this."
Manitoba's chief medical examiner has called an inquest into the death. The inquest will investigate whether anything might have been done to prevent the death in hopes of preventing similar incidents in the future.