It’s only February and Winnipeg police have already been involved in three officer-related shootings in 2019.
The latest incident happened Saturday morning when police were sent to an apartment building on Colony Street and a 43-year-old man was shot.
He ended up in the hospital and died shortly afterward.
University of Winnipeg criminologist Michael Weinrath told 680 CJOB Monday that lethal force is a last resort for police.
“When I used to work in corrections, we had a saying – you don’t get paid to get hurt,” said Weinrath.
“Certainly there are situations where police do have to use their firearms.
“They have continuum of force protocol that they’re supposed to go through, to try to discourage people from acting out or running away,” he said.
“They’ll use voice commands if the person is not armed, and if there’s enough officers to do so safely, they’ll take a person out physically or use a taser or pepper spray.”
The investigation is now in the hands of Manitoba’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU).
Since the incident involved a death, the IIU has made a request for a civilian monitor.
Weinrath said the number of police-related shootings this early in the year isn’t necessarily indicative of a trend.
“When you get violence like this, it’s often sort of episodic,” he said.
“Sometimes you’ll have three or four homicides in a month, and then you’ll go months without, so I would say it’s pretty early to be really concerned that it’s going to be a big trend.”
WATCH: Man dead after Winnipeg police shooting on Sherbrook Street