Police watchdog finds 'no reasonable grounds' to charge officer in Portage la Prairie shooting death

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 24, 2025 6:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

WARNING: This communicative contains accusation astir home violence.

Manitoba's constabulary watchdog says determination are "no tenable grounds" to enactment charges for an RCMP serviceman who was progressive successful a 2023 shooting incidental that near a Portage la Prairie antheral dead. 

On May 24, 2023, RCMP officers responded to a study of an aboriginal greeting home concern astatine an flat successful Portage la Prairie. 

According to a study by the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, which investigates each superior incidents involving constabulary successful the province, witnesses heard a pistillate calling for help, claiming her fellow was going to termination her.

When officers arrived they recovered a antheral acting erratically, the IIU study says. One serviceman claimed successful the study that the antheral was equipped with an "edged weapon." 

The study outlines attempts to usage stun guns to incapacitate the man, followed by a carnal conflict betwixt the antheral and the taxable officer.

After different serviceman yelled that the antheral had a knife, the study says the taxable serviceman told the antheral to ""drop it, oregon I'll sprout you," shooting the antheral erstwhile helium advanced. 

The antheral died of his wounds, constabulary say. 

During its investigation, the IIU recovered the usage of unit was "reasonable, proportionate and successful accordance with training," and that grounds astatine the country was accordant with officers' accounts. 

"It is my presumption that, successful the afloat information of the circumstances of this tragic incident, the usage of lethal unit by the taxable serviceman was authorized and justified by law," Bruce M. Sychuk, the watchdog's acting civilian director, wrote successful the report.  "There are nary tenable grounds to enactment immoderate charges against the taxable officer."

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