Fatal police shooting at Winnipeg apartment complex justified: Watchdog
Manitoba's police watchdog won't pursue charges against a Winnipeg police officer who fatally shot an armed man at an apartment building on Main Street.
The Independent Investigation Unit said Tuesday it won't authorize charges against the patrol officer in connection with the shooting at a Manitoba Housing building on Main Street last year.
Police shot the man after responding to multiple 911 calls about a man swinging around a knife and banging on suite doors at North Point Douglas Manor around 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 2.
He was taken to hospital and later died.
The IIU's civilian director said there was no reasonable ground for charges against responding officers, and the use of lethal force was justified.
The officer who shot the man (called the subject officer in the IIU report), four other officers and four civilian witnesses provided information to the civilian director, the IIU's full report on the death says.
One civilian witness told the IIU the man had been continuously running water on his suite, causing flooding on other floors. The witness went to the man's suite and found him yelling and screaming on his bed.
The man told two other civilian witnesses that people kept fighting him and that "everyone was out to get him," the report said.
A witness said the man told them he wanted police to take him away, and he wanted to die.
One of the witnesses asked the man whether he was suicidal and if he would like mental health assistance, but he declined.
Man Tasered twice
Eventually 911 was called and dispatchers were told the man was armed with two 20-centimetre knives and was heard saying he used meth and crack.
Three officers who attended the scene — including the officer who shot the man — said they agreed to take the elevator to the fifth floor and then walk up the stairs to the seventh, where the man with the knives was.
An officer with a Taser said the officer who shot the man instructed him to be non-lethal cover while he provided lethal cover.
The officer with the Taser said he saw the man holding a knife and grazing or knocking on a suite door when they got to the seventh floor.
The officer said he told the man to drop the weapon, but the man ignored him. He was moving toward police when the officer deployed the Taser twice.
The officer who fired his gun said in a statement that the man was swinging his knives. The other witness officer said the man was moving toward them in a threatening manner.
The officers said the man was not incapacitated after getting Tasered, and that he continued to move forward. It was then that the officer armed with a gun fired.
The subject officer said the man was about six feet away from him when he shot him.
Forensic investigators found two knives and four spent bullet casings on the scene, as well as evidence of Taser deployment, the IIU report said.
A civilian witness said video corroborated the officers' accounts of the incident.
On the video, the man held two knives while moving toward the police in an "aggressive manner," and he was in very close proximity when he was shot and fell to the ground, the witness said.
Toxicology reports found the man had methamphetamine and amphetamine on his system.
The preliminary cause of death was gunshot wounds to the chest area.
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"It has been tough for the players to relive that again, that whole experience, because I think in hindsight, again they're probably wishing that they never went to that room," he said. Janowicz wonders why charges were laid and how this ever got to trial because "it just seemed like the Crown didn't have a lot of evidence." Court heard that an original investigation conducted by the London Police Service (LPS) in 2018 was closed early into 2019 after the detective in charge, Stephen Newton, said he couldn't find grounds for charges. Under cross-examination recently, though, the now-retired sergeant admitted he had not thoroughly followed up on some investigative leads — for example, while he knew about McLeod's text invitation, he didn't try to get it, and he did not ask Dubé about the allegations he slapped E.M.'s bare buttocks. After a settlement with E.M. by Hockey Canada became public in 2022, police started a second investigation that ultimately led to the charges. 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People aged 15 to 25 and those 66 and older were more likely to express beliefs that undermine victims, the research found. Petition backing E.M. When Karen Barnes, Kelly Proudfoot and Tosh Southwick start chatting online, the topic can range from travel plans, to politics, to top stories in the news. Former colleagues at Yukon University, they've had a lot of discussions lately about the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial, particularly around E.M.'s testimony and cross-examination by the five defence lawyers. "The thing that really sort of struck home for all of us was that this woman was having to do this alone," Barnes said from her home in Chemainus, B.C. "I wanted her to know that she wasn't alone," Proudfoot added from Europe, where the Whitehorse resident is currently travelling. The friends wrote an open letter they tried to get published in southern Ontario newspapers. They also attempted to get it directly to E.M. through the courts. When none of that worked, they decided to put it online in the form of a petition. "We don't know your name, but we know your courage," it starts. "As women watching from across the country, we are heartbroken, enraged, and in awe of your strength. You are walking through fire in that courtroom in London, Ont. — reliving the horror, subjected to endless questioning, standing alone against a system and a culture that have failed you again and again. "We believe you." The petition has been up since May 12 and has thousands of signatures. Proudfoot said she has been touched by many of the comments, but also disheartened so few people have signed the petition compared to the approximately 40,000 people who have read it. "For me, it's the silence," she said, adding people seem afraid to support E.M. publicly. Coming from the hockey community of Whitby, Ont., and having worked for the NHL's Calgary Flames early in her career, Proudfoot said some people have told her not to get involved — that E.M., who launched a civil lawsuit, received a settlement from Hockey Canada and it should be enough. Proudfoot rejects that, saying her message to them is simple: "I love hockey, and I believe E.M., and I think there's lots more to that story. But right now, what I want is [for E.M.] to know that she has support and feel like she can go on in her life, that there are people that believe in her." Supporters of E.M. plan to be back at court on Monday as closing arguments begin. They're also planning events for the day Justice Maria Carroccia hands down her decisions — which could still be weeks away. Defence lawyers have already complained to the court that the protesters are intimidating the players, and "forcefully and loudly" advocating for results when they chant: "What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now." Hart's lawyer, Megan Savard, described it as "name-calling, bullying, attacking."
