Man shot dead by Winnipeg police after officer stabbed in throat

Manitoba’s police watchdog has been called in after a police shooting Sunday afternoon in Winnipeg left one man dead and an officer recovering from a stab wound to the throat.

The Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) confirmed Monday that it has taken over the investigation, and that because a fatality is involved, it’s requesting a civilian monitor to be appointed by the Manitoba Police Commission.

Officers were first called to a shopping complex in the 3600 block of Portage Avenue around 5 p.m. Sunday, in response to reports of an officer stabbed in the throat and a suspect shot.

Acting Chief Art Stannard told a late-night press conference Sunday that the victim was given CPR at the scene before being taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Stannard said he’s aware of video posted to social media that allegedly shows part of the shooting, but asked the public to wait for the investigation to be complete before rushing to judgment, and that the press conference was an attempt on the part of the police service to show transparency.

Christopher Schneider, a criminal justice prof at Brandon University, told 680 CJOB that while it’s always unfortunate when deadly force is used by police, many Canadians don’t understand when and how that force may be called for.

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However, he says many Canadians don’t understand when and how that force may be called for.

“You’ll see things online where people will say stuff like, ‘I don’t know why the police officer didn’t shoot him in the knee’ and other sort of things, because they watch a lot of movies, and they see this happen in movies,” Schneider said.

“(But) police are trained to neutralize the threat, and if there’s a weapon, police can go to their guns and can use deadly force… in very particular circumstances.”

These types of incidents, he said, always lead to discussions around the topic of police-worn body cameras — especially in light of the RCMP’s new initiative to roll out the cameras to officers across the country, including Manitoba.

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But Schneider says the cameras might not help rebuild public trust the way some expect, as the footage would likely remain private.

“Even in a situation like this… if the IIU had body-worn camera footage — they do not, but if they did — and they did an investigation and found that the use of force was justified by the officers, that would be all that they said.

“They would just say that in terms of their findings, but they would not release the body-worn camera footage.”

At the end of the day, Schneider said it’ll be up to the IIU to decide whether deadly force was justified in this case.

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-With files from Global News’ Sam Thompson