No charges against Winnipeg police officer in fatal shooting following high-speed chase

Manitoba’s police watchdog is not recommending charges against a Winnipeg police officer who fatally shot a man following a police chase south of Winnipeg.

Manitoba’s police watchdog is not authorizing charges against a Winnipeg police officer following the fatal shooting of a suspect involved in a high-speed chase from Winnipeg to Niverville.

On Monday, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU) released its report into the June 5, 2024 incident, which spanned multiple communities and involved a stolen truck ramming a Winnipeg police vehicle.

According to the report by IIU civilian director Bruce Sychuk, Winnipeg police received an alert from RCMP that a truck that was stolen from Cypress River had been spotted fleeing from Brandon police at a high rate of speed. The report noted there were two people in the vehicle at the time, who were changing licence plates and “may be in possession of a shotgun.”

The vehicle was spotted in Winnipeg, Man., near Ness Avenue and Linwood Street, and Winnipeg police began pursuing the truck. Air1 was called in to help track the vehicle. Officers eventually found the truck at Providence University College in Otterburne.

“As the unit was entering the parking lot, the suspect vehicle went mobile, ramming the police unit and pushing it backwards as the driver attempted to flee the scene,” the IIU report reads. “The officers responded by discharging their firearms at the suspect vehicle, which disengaged with the police unit, turned around and fled from the parking lot.”

The truck was then tracked to the parking lot of a Tim Hortons in Niverville, where the driver escaped in another vehicle. A female passenger was arrested, and a male passenger was found suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. An ambulance was called, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver was later arrested in Saskatchewan.

As the incident involved an officer-involved shooting during an attempted arrest, the IIU launched an investigation.

The report included a statement from one of the officers who shot at the vehicle. According to the statement, the officer said he was fearful for both his and his partner’s lives when the truck tried to ram his vehicle. He started firing at the truck to incapacitate it, the report said.

The IIU also reviewed video footage from Air1, which showed the truck driving directly at the police vehicle, shots being fired by officers and the truck reversing away. An officer is then seen firing at the truck as it drove away.

The report said 14 bullets hit the front windshield of the truck, and another five hit the side windows. The suspect was hit by two bullets, one in the abdomen and one in the head, which the report said was the fatal shot.

According to an autopsy, the man had methamphetamine in his system at the time of his death.

A firearms expert was called in to analyze the shooting. They said based on the trajectory of the bullet, the fatal shot was fired while the stolen truck was driving away from the police vehicle.

The IIU also got analysis from a use of force expert, who had no concerns about the use of force due to the truck driving directly at the police vehicle. However, they were concerned about the officer continuing to fire at the truck while it was driving away.

The information was sent to the Manitoba Prosecution Service for an opinion, which found the standard for prosecuting charges had not been met.

As a result, Sychuk did not authorize charges against the officer.

“After an extended police pursuit of a stolen truck, it ended in mere seconds, resulting in (the man’s) death. Given that the Manitoba Prosecution Service’s opinion is that the standard for prosecuting charges has not been met, the civilian director will not be authorizing charges,” the report said.

The full report can be read online.