Nova Scotia’s independent police watchdog has decided there are no grounds to charge RCMP officers who shot a homicide suspect last fall.
Officers from the Colchester District detachment responded to a homicide in Bayhead, N.S., just before midnight on Sept. 17, 2017.
While doing so, officers stopped a vehicle they thought was being driven by a suspect in the homicide investigation.
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When the vehicle didn’t stop, police pursued it and the chase ended up at the Lockerbie Memorial Cemetery in Tatamagouche.
After a standoff that lasted several hours, gunfire was exchanged at around 7 a.m. and the suspect was wounded by RCMP officers.
The Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT), which investigates all serious incidents involving police in the province, launched an investigation and in a report released on Tuesday, said they concluded there are no grounds to pursue charges against any of the officers.
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SiRT is declining to comment further on the case because the homicide is still before the courts.
“The Serious Incident Response Team regulations under the Police Act state that the director may choose to provide a supplemental summary of the investigation at the conclusion of the prosecution,” SiRT said in a news release.
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After the shootout with police, Ernest (Junior) Ross Duggan was charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 58-year-old neighbour, Susan Butlin.
He was also charged with attempted murder in relation to that armed standoff with police.
His next court appearance in Truro Provincial Court is scheduled for June 12.