Few details released as investigation into member involved shooting continues

REGINA – Few details are being released in regards to an RCMP “member involved shooting” Monday southeast of Regina, in Kronau.

The RCMP says members were called to a home on Leippi Bay in Kronau to respond to a distraught male. Members from Capital Region Traffic Services were the first to arrive and shortly after, a shot was fired and a 17-year-old man was injured.

To ensure transparency, the Regina Police Service (RPS) has been asked by the RCMP to conduct an investigation.

In Kronau Tuesday morning, at least four RCMP vehicles with the decal Forensic Collision Reconstruction were still on scene. Global News asked the RCMP, why its members would still be there but were told the force is not commenting.

However, the RPS says Mounties are doing their own investigation surrounding what led up to the firearm being discharged and Regina police is investigating the shooting itself.

In some other provinces, an independent body will investigate incidents involving injury when a police officer is involved. Saskatchewan does not have a formal independent body, so typically another police force will be called in to conduct the investigation.

However, according to Dr. Robert Gordon, a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University, when one police force investigates another, it leaves the door open for perceived bias.

“Obviously the biggest problem is that allegations are made that somehow the story is cooked, that the investigation is not thorough, the outcomes is predetermined,” said Gordon.

Gordon says limited information provided by the RCMP can sometimes lead to assumptions being made.

“The first thing that usually comes to peoples minds is ‘oh they’re trying to hide something’,” said Gordon. “Usually it’s not the case. Usually the reason people are keeping information out of the public domain is because they don’t know themselves yet what actually transpired.”

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice is also in the process of appointing an independent observer to oversee the investigation. The ministry says the observer is typically a retired police officer.