No charges against Cape Breton police in overpass death
CBC News | Posted: January 24, 2018 7:10 PM | Last Updated: January 24, 2018
Officer used stun gun on man trying to jump from Highway 125 overpass
Nova Scotia's independent police watchdog has cleared a Cape Breton Regional Police officer of wrongdoing in the death of a 27-year-old man in September 2017.
In its report released Wednesday, the Serious Incident Response Team said the officer responded to a report of two men fighting on an overpass on Highway 125 outside Sydney.
A man was trying to restrain his brother from jumping from the overpass and had just pulled him back to safety when the officer arrived, SIRT said.
As the man made a second attempt to jump, the officer fired his stun weapon in an effort to immobilize him.
The report says that "despite the accuracy of the officer's aim," the man got over the railing and fell 10 metres to the road below.
Vehicles managed to avoid striking him, but he died minutes later from the fall.
His death has been ruled a suicide.
SIRT says there are no grounds to consider charges against the officer involved, since his actions were meant to save the man's life and not cause him harm.