Codiac RCMP officer cleared in Dieppe shooting

A member of the RCMP who shot a woman in Dieppe last year after she fired an airsoft gun at first responders was cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent investigation, a newly released report states. 

New Brunswick RCMP asked Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team to investigate the actions of a Codiac Regional RCMP member on Jan. 5 last year. 

The report doesn't name the person, referring to him only as the "subject officer."

"The (officer's) actions were sound, well-founded and based on good judgment," the four-page report states. "They were based on what he knew and perceived. His actions complied with the policies and procedures of the RCMP, the Criminal Code and were appropriate given the circumstances he faced."

Cpl. Jullie Rogers-Marsh, a spokesperson for RCMP in New Brunswick, did not comment on the findings of the report. 

Morgan Maryanne Connors, the woman shot, was later charged and pleaded guilty to seven charges last year, including discharging an airsoft gun, two counts of uttering death threats, two counts of pointing an airsoft gun, dangerous driving, and possession of brass knuckles.

She was sentenced to four years in prison last fall.

It wasn't initially clear Connors was using an airsoft gun, which can closely resemble real guns but fire plastic or resin pellets.

The weapon Connors used closely resembled a Colt Model 1911 handgun, the report states. 

It says the mistake in identification of the weapon is "understandable given the highly charged and stressful dynamics of the situation faced by all the officers and first responders."  

The June 28 report by Felix Cacchione, director of SIRT, delves into the details of what happened that day in January based on interviews with eight civilian witnesses, the woman's mother, paramedics, 18 RCMP officers and the subject officer.

It says multiple civilians called police at 2:13 p.m. to report an SUV that drove through a red light, made an illegal lane change in an intersection and drove into an oncoming lane of traffic. 

People at the Irving Tissue paper plant in Dieppe saw Connors drive through the company's parking lot at high speed, drive over a curb, over a sidewalk and through a snowbank into a ditch before going onto a highway and almost hitting a transport truck. 

Others later reported a damaged vehicle in a wooded area near the airport off Adélard-Savoie Boulevard in Dieppe.

Paramedics arriving at the scene described seeing Connors open her vehicle door and say something. A civilian heard a "pop" noise and saw the back window break. A second "pop" sound followed and a paramedic said the person had a pistol. 

"The (woman) was agitated and acting erratically," the report states, describing her moving from the front seat to the back seat and then back to the front seat. 

Both paramedics and Dieppe firefighters at the scene reported seeing the woman holding a gun, with firefighters saying Connors threatened them and fired in their direction. 

Connors continued moving around from the front to the back seat, and swore at police and threatened to kill them, the report states.

Police tried using a public address system to de–escalate the situation and tell Connors to drop the pistol and that she was under arrest.

When officers attempted to get binoculars from a police car glove box, Connors fired four of five times, which the subject officer believed to be gunshots.

Connors appeared to exit the vehicle with the pistol in her hand, and then get back inside, before again moving around inside the SUV and firing the pistol four to five times. 

The report says that's when the officer shot Connors.

Connors slowly exited the rear passenger side of the SUV, but was only able to raise one hand. She was arrested, given first aid and taken to hospital. It doesn't describe the nature of her injury.

The report states Connors offered an apology to investigators four days after the incident while in hospital. She later told the SIRT investigator "she felt really sorry for the police officer" who was forced to shoot her, and it wasn't something he should have to live with.

Province exploring creating own agency

New Brunswick RCMP called in SIRT to carry out the independent investigation of the officer's actions because this province doesn't have its own agency to carry out such reviews and determine if charges are warranted. 

The provincial government has been exploring whether to create such an organization.

The findings of the report, despite clearing the officer, were previously withheld from the public.

The RCMP refused to release the report voluntarily last year, telling CBC News to file an access to information request to get a copy of the report.

That request resulted in the force telling CBC that no such report could be found by RCMP in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia. 

CBC complained to the federal information commissioner last fall that it was impossible the report didn't exist given the RCMP's own statements to CBC.

A copy of the report was released Tuesday by RCMP.