The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU) will not authorize charges against Winnipeg police officers involved in the 2024 arrest of a man who died following an interaction captured on video. James Wood, 35, was involved in a police interaction on Jan. 27, 2024. Multiple neighbours provided video appearing to show the takedown, which involved the use of a baton, which they alleged involved excessive force. According to the IIU, officers were called to a domestic incident at an apartment complex on Fairlane Avenue in the city’s Crestview neighbourhood. The agency’s report says a “brief use-of-force encounter occurred while (he) was being handcuffed.” The report further notes that as officers brought the man to the police cruiser, he became unresponsive. He was transported to Grace Hospital and was later transferred to Health Sciences Centre, where he died the following day. The IIU reported that medical staff did not detect drugs or alcohol in Wood’s system and that he was suffering from a brain bleed that had caused brain swelling. The report said medical staff suggested the amount of swelling indicated the damage occurred prior to the day’s events. As medical staff suggested, behaviour presenting as intoxication can be consistent with brain swelling. His family shared their anguish during a Jan. 28, 2024, media conference and called for justice for Wood. “It’s very hard to lose somebody in this way. It shouldn’t happen,” said Carol Wood, James’ mom, at the time. “There is no need for what they did to my son.”
