Manitoba’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU) has released the results of an investigation into injuries caused to a suspect during an arrest in January 2016.
Civilian Director Zane Tessler determined that police were reasonable in the force they used to subdue the suspect and that such force was necessary.
On January 23, 2016, WPS officers responded to a call that a male, wearing a black ski mask and armed with a firearm, was seen at a rooming house on Ross Avenue. Three officers entered the house and found the man in a balaclava, carrying a sawed-off rifle with a scope being injected with a syringe by a second individual.
Police ordered the man to raise his hands but he refused. One of the officers attempted to physically force the suspect to the ground. The man was wearing the rifle in a shoulder sling and a struggle ensued involving all three officers. Police were forced to use the taser to help subdue the suspect and he was arrested.
The man was taken to the Health Sciences Centre, where he was admitted with a fractured rib and a partially collapsed lung.
The IIU investigated to determine whether, at any time, the subject officers applied excessive or unnecessary force to the affected person.
It was determined the officers employed all means available to disarm the individual and defuse a potentially deadly situation without resorting to the use of lethal force. Tessler wrote in his report that although the affected person suffered a serious injury, “more serious physical harm and the potential for loss of life was completely avoided by the actions of these subject officers.”
-News4 Staff-
