Manitoba’s Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) says that no charges will be laid against two Winnipeg Police officers in relation to the shooting of a 25-year-old male armed with a knife.
The incident happened on December 11, 2017, at an apartment on Charles Street. Officers were called to the building after a report of a dead body was called into Winnipeg’s 311 service.
Police knocked on the door of the apartment and repeatedly told the occupant to open the door. When the male opened the door he was armed with a knife. Officers demanded he drop the weapon, he refused. At this point, the suspect pulled the knife out of his pants pocket. One officer fired a taser at the male and another fired two shots at the man hitting him in the abdomen and his right ear.
Because the man was hurt because of a weapon discharge the IIU was mandated to investigate.
The IIU says that upon investigation the suspect said he did not recall anything about his interaction with officers that night due to excessive alcohol consumption. Statements from the officers in attendance as well as neighbours who heard the confrontation support the position that police had issued multiple commands for the suspect to drop his weapon and surrender
“The male, in the face of these commands and armed police, chose to produce the knife in a combative style,” wrote IIU Civilian Director Zane Tessler in his report on the investigation. “The likelihood that the man was capable of using lethal force on any of the officers was real and substantial. The police did not create this lethal force interaction. This was solely the choice of the affected person.”
© 2018 News 4, a DigiPix Media Group company
.
