A Winnipeg woman is dumbfounded after she received an ambulance bill for her common-law partner who was shot and killed by police in April.
Neveen Al-Fouakhiri said she recently found the $250 ambulance bill in her mail.
“I kind of cried in my house for six hours after,” Al-Fouakhiri told Global News Thursday.
“It’s been a couple months, you try to grieve and then you get this in the mail.”
Police were called to Al-Fouakhiri’s home on Anderson Avenue on April 9 for a report of an armed man during a domestic incident. About a half hour after arriving on scene, police opened fire.
Al-Fouakhiri said her common-law partner, 36-year-old Jason Collins, was lifeless on front lawn before he was transported to hospital in an ambulance.
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Al-Fouakhiri was taken to hospital in an ambulance as well and has also received a bill which she said she has no problem paying for.
“It’s really not about the money, it’s really not, it’s about bringing everything back all over again,” she said.
“Winnipeg police came to our property and they shot and killed him and they send you the bill for it.”
A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said ambulance service billing is an automated process that is not dependent on the circumstances of the call for service or on the patient’s outcome.
When asked at a press conference about Al-Fouakhiri’s situation, Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said he would look into it.
“I’m thinking of the individuals. I can appreciate the questions being raised, as well as concern and anger about getting a bill when the injury was caused by a member of the public service, whether it’s police or any other member of the public service,” Bowman said.
“It’s one that I’ll look into if it’s something you can provide me with some additional information, I’ll personally look into that.”
Global News has since provided the mayor’s press secretary with additional information.
Al-Fouakhiri hopes she can help other families avoid receiving a similar bill in the mail.
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