Winnipeg officer who fatally shot armed man hours after mental health call won't face charges: IIU
Family member called 911 hours before shooting, relayed mental health concerns: IIU
Manitoba's police watchdog says it won't recommend charges against a Winnipeg officer who fatally shot a man in June.
The shooting death happened after police doing a traffic stop at the Salter Street and Mountain Avenue intersection on June 17 encountered a man with a knife, says an Independent Investigation Unit report released Monday.
Police were in an unmarked SUV that afternoon, when the man approached the driver side of the vehicle in an "aggressive state, which caused witnesses to honk their vehicle horns to alert the officer," the report says.
A confrontation ensued and one of the officers shot the man, the IIU said.
"[The officer] opened his door and [the man] attempted to stab him with the knife, [so the officer] drew his firearm and subsequently discharged it at the armed male to stop the attack," police told the IIU in the notification about the shooting.
The officer shot the man in the neck, and the man was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The IIU, which investigates all serious incidents involving police, was notified and took over the investigation.
They interviewed the officer who shot the man and one other officer, and reviewed police notes, 911 audio recordings, forensic and toxicology reports, footage from various angles provided by civilian witnesses and Winnipeg Police Service drone footage. The IIU interviewed or reviewed interviews done with 16 civilian witnesses, the unit said.
Toxicology reports suggested the man had cocaine, alcohol and more than one benzodiazepine medication in his system. Most eyewitnesses described seeing a knife in the man's right hand as he approached the police vehicle, and video showed him "brandishing a large, hunting-style knife," the IIU report says.
A call to 911 operators hours before the shooting revealed a family member called them, "concerned about his mental state and threats of suicide." The family member described him as wearing a green housecoat, black shorts and slippers, and said the man could have a knife on him.
About 45 minutes before the shooting, someone else called 911 to report a man at a restaurant near the corner of Redwood Avenue and Main Street was showing patrons a knife, though not threatening anyone, the IIU said. That man, too, was described as wearing a robe with shorts, and was seen stabbing at parked vehicles on Main.
The police encounter and shooting, a few blocks from the Main and Redwood restaurant, happened around 4:15 p.m. that day.
After reviewing the evidence, the IIU's director found no reasonable grounds to pursue charges against the officer, the IIU said in a news release.
The IIU has closed its investigation.
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