Manitoba’s police watchdog agency, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU), has transferred the investigation in to the December 31, 2023, officer-involved death of a 19-year-old male.
The IIU says that as they began their investigation into the fatal shooting investigators learned the officer involved has a close family member who work for Manitoba Justice.. The IIU is organizationally located within that department.
In order to avoid the potential of any perceived conflict the civilian director of the IIU, Roxanne Gagne, decided to transfer the investigation to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT).
In a statement issued on January 10 the IIU said “Although there are no concerns over the professionalism and integrity of the work done by IIU investigators, considering the relationship of the persons involved, it was concluded that the appointment of an outside agency for this investigation is important to preserve the integrity of the investigative process.”
