The actions of Winnipeg police officers are under scrutiny by the province’s law-enforcement watchdog after a man was shot and killed Tuesday morning.
Police said Wednesday that the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) is looking into the altercation, which began Feb. 8, when police tried to follow a Manitoba Mental Health Act order and take a 59-year-old man — non-voluntarily — to hospital.
Further attempts to apprehend the man over the next few days were also unsuccessful, police said, until things came to a head Tuesday morning at a Magnus Avenue home.
According to police, the man was armed with a crowbar and discharged a fire extinguisher at them before locking himself inside.
Members of the Tactical Support Team then arrived and after attempts to communicate with the man, eventually ‘breached’ the home. After repeated efforts to speak with him, the man allegedly confronted tactical officers with a “large edged weapon”, at which point officers shot him.
He was taken to Health Sciences Centre in critical condition, where he died of his injuries.
As a result, the IIU says it will request a civilian monitor of its investigation, to be appointed by the Manitoba Police Commission.
Supt. Bonnie Emerson said well-being events continue to be on the rise, with Winnipeg police required detain more than 1,100 people under the Mental Health Act last year alone.
“It remains the top citizen-generated call for service that the Winnipeg Police Service responds to for the fourth year in a row,” Emerson said. “The WPS attended to 21,000 well-being checks — that’s an average of 58 a day.”
Anyone with information or video footage that might help the investigation is asked to contact the IIU at 1-844-667-6060.