Family of 19-year-old who died after being shot by police searching for answers
Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba takes over officer-involved shooting case
The family of a 19-year-old who died after being shot by police over the weekend are searching for answers about what happened to their loved one, who they say was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of the incident.
Afolabi Stephen Opaso was an international student originally from Nigeria who studied at the University of Manitoba, says a lawyer who is assisting the family.
"That's just the first thing, was [the] shot necessary?" said Jean-René Dominique Kwilu. "Because if the issue was to unarm the person, was the shot necessary?"
Police responded to a well-being call that involved a possibly armed man acting erratically at an apartment building at 77 University Cres. at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Officers went to one of the suites where they found a man and two other people, according to the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, which issued a news release saying it is looking into the incident.
The man was armed with two knives when officers shot him, Winnipeg police Chief Danny Smyth told reporters during a Monday news conference. No information was provided on the other two people in the apartment.
Opaso was taken to hospital in critical condition where he died from his injuries.
Kwilu said it's unclear right now what caused police to shoot Opaso.
"At this point, [what's] shocking is just to arrive at …. that deadly gunshot," he said.
The IIU said in its statement that the officers were confronted by the man.
Smyth said police do not know much about the man who died.
"I think we had one other encounter with him, sometime last July, where we assisted him by providing him with a ride," he said. "He has no other record with us, and certainly no criminal record. We think he may have been a student at the [University of Manitoba]."
Not a hostage situation: police chief
The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has been notified and taken over the investigation.
"As soon as there's a death involved, we kind of put the brakes on investigating it," the police chief said. "It's not our jurisdiction."
The man was inside of a suite in the apartment with a 19-year-old woman and man, 21, Smyth said, adding the three appeared to know each other — although it's not clear whether the man who died was a resident or visitor at the apartment.
The other two people in the suite are safe and now considered witnesses, he said.
The call to police was made by someone in the suite, but police do not believe it was a hostage situation, Smyth said.
"I don't get that sense from the original information, but the caller was quite concerned."
There were six officer-involved shootings in 2022, three of which resulted in deaths, according to Winnipeg police data.
This is the second officer-involved shooting in Winnipeg in a week. On Thursday, a man was shot dead by officers during a hostage situation in the city's West Broadway area.
Smyth said the two incidents were different events and circumstances.
"Clearly they're not related," he said, "but we go to thousands of calls every week, and we deal with what we have."
Anyone with information or video footage that could help the investigation is asked to contact the IIU toll free at 1-844-667-6060.
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