Two Winnipeg Police Service Tactical Support Team members have been cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting death of a suspect in September 2017.
The Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) entered into an investigation after a 23-year-old male was shot and killed by police.
Officers were investigating multiple offences involving a single male armed with a firearm. He was a suspect in a commercial robbery, carjacking and domestic assault, which had all occurred that same evening. Shortly after midnight on the 13th, the WPS helicopter AIR1 followed a stolen vehicle driven by the suspect until it stopped and the man exited the vehicle in the area of Powers Street and Alfred Avenue, carrying a firearm. When officers moved in, he pointed the gun at his own head, refused repeated commands to drop his weapon, and then pointed the gun at officers, resulting in two members of the tactical team discharging their firearms.
The suspect was critically wounded and pronounced dead in hospital shortly after the shooting.
After a lengthy IIU investigation civilian director, Zane Tessler determined that the officers were justified in shooting the suspect. Tessler noted police were aware the man was reported to be directly involved in three separate and violent incidents involving a firearm and that, as he walked along Alfred Avenue, he was carrying what they believed to be a firearm. He said it was appropriate for officers to arm themselves as they left their vehicles and for the Tactical Support Team to be utilized.
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