The Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by an RCMP officer in Eastern Passage, N.S. Police were responding to an assault call at a home on Cedar Lane around 1:50 p.m. on Tuesday at the time of the shooting. SiRT says police found a woman with a knife at the scene. “The female did not comply with officer’s commands to drop the knife,” said SiRT in a news release Wednesday. SiRT says police discharged a Taser, but the woman continued to approach the officer with a knife. “An officer discharged their firearm, striking the female,” confirmed SiRT. “She was pronounced deceased soon after.” The RCMP previously said a person had been taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after the incident. “During the RCMP response, a member discharged their firearm; a person sustained life-threatening injuries consistent with a gun shot wound and was transported to hospital,” said the RCMP in a news release Tuesday. “No one else was injured.” The incident was referred to SiRT, which is responsible for investigating serious incidents involving police in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Witness accounts Bruce Zwicker was working outside at a neighbouring home when he heard the altercation. “I heard the first gunshot, a lot of screaming and hollering. She was talking- it was a female doing all the yelling - and she was screaming and telling someone to get on the ground. Then, maybe 15 to 20 seconds later, I started hearing more gunshots,” Zwicker said. “There was a lot of screaming and hollering again. Lots of sirens, the police were showing up one after another. For probably half an hour, it was just police cars rolling in one after another.” Zwicker said he believes around 25 police cars responded to the scene. “Somebody was fighting or having a disagreement or something like that. But once the police showed up, it really escalated from there,” he said. Zwicker’s nephew, Cameron Zwicker, said he saw police tending to the injured woman until the ambulance arrived. Cameron said it was an unusual sight in the neighbourhood. “Nobody even really gets into a heated argument or fight,” he said. “That kind of thing just doesn’t happen down here at all.” For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
