Nova Scotia’s Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) is investigating the death of a man during a confrontation with officers at a residence in Dartmouth, N.S., Saturday evening.
Halifax Regional Police (HRP) said they responded to a weapons call just after 8:30 p.m. involving a man with a firearm.
Investigators said the suspect had barricaded himself in a residence and officers had set up containment on it.
According to HRP, the 59-year-old man confronted officers with a weapon while they attempted to arrest him and an officer discharged his service weapon.
Neighbour Nikita Barrow told Global News she and her family rushed outside when they heard the sirens.
“We heard almost like a tasing sound, the cops yelling, a gunshot, and we just came running in the house,” she said.
“Probably not too long after, they came and told us to stay in the house so you’re safe.”
Police said the man was found dead in the residence and the incident has been referred to SiRT, which investigates all serious incidents involving police.
John Scott, the interim ditrector of SiRT, said investigators will be collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses in the days and weeks to come. He added it’s not known how long the investigation will take.
“They’re going to be involved with potentially looking for evidence at the location. So it could be, in some cases, search warrants or involve witnesses (identifying) anybody that was at the scene,” he said.
“What what you would look at is that the officer’s response by use of the weapon was reasonable in the circumstance.”
— With a file from The Canadian Press and Callum Smith