RCMP officers involved in the arrest of man who died shortly after being handcuffed on James Smith Cree Nation last year have been cleared of wrongdoing. The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) shared its findings in a report published Wednesday. On the morning of April 28, 2025, Mounties responded to several calls of a man discharging bear spray within a home on James Smith Cree Nation (JSCN). Three RCMP officers in addition to JSCN peacekeepers responded and found a 29-year-old man inside the home at 8:39 a.m. De-escalation was attempted by the officers before they told the affected person he would be taken into custody under The Mental Health Services Act. The affected person, who had told officers twice that he would “fight to the death,” fled out the house’s back door after being told he was under arrest. Officers gave chase and caught up to the affected person after he stopped and raised his hands. He was placed in handcuffs. SIRT noted in the report that conducted energy weapons (electric), were drawn during the pursuit but were not fired. According to the report, while the affected person was lying on the ground in handcuffs, he began shouting he was having a heart attack and was going to die. He also shouted for the officers to get off of his back, despite none of the officers at the scene applying pressure to his back. One officer had placed his knee on the affected person’s shoulder as he continued to struggle, while another officer held the man’s upper right arm. The third officer ran back to retrieve a police vehicle, while the other two tried to keep the affected person calm. The affected person went into medical distress while still waiting for the RCMP vehicle at 8:54 a.m. The officers at the scene contacted paramedics and began administering first aid. Both the Mounties and JSCN peacekeepers performed CPR and administered naloxone several times as they awaited paramedics, who arrived around 40 minutes later. In that 40-minute span, an AED was retrieved from the band hall a short time after the affected person became unresponsive. However, once connected it displayed a reading that no shock was advised. At 9:42 a.m., EMS assumed responsibility for the affected person’s care. He was declared dead at 9:44 a.m. SIRT was contacted less than an hour later. Six SIRT investigators were deployed to Melfort and James Smith Cree Nation. On July 14, 2026, the completed investigation was submitted to SIRT’s civilian executive director for review. In addition to witness testimony from 13 residents, SIRT seized various pieces of video footage from sources such as local CCTV, cameras on responding RCMP vehicles and the Mounties’ own body-worn cameras. All three officers involved in the arrest also provided statements to SIRT. SIRT noted the absence of any life-threatening physical injuries which could have caused or contributed to the affected person’s death – adding the amount of methamphetamine and cocaine found within the affected person’s system were within the fatal range. An autopsy found the affected person died as a result of “positional asphyxia combined with acute methamphetamine and cocaine toxicity.” In its analysis, SIRT found the officers involved demonstrated “prolonged attempts to engage peacefully with the affected person,” adding they were also aware of his ongoing mental health crisis. “… When his medical distress was ultimately discovered, the involved police officers demonstrated significant concern for preserving his life and rapidly provided appropriate care,” the report read. “Accordingly, after considering the totality of the evidence and the applicable legal standards, there are no grounds to believe that any police officer committed any Criminal Code offence during the course of this incident, and no charges will be laid.”
