Province calls inquest into death of Indigenous man during arrest

The death of an Indigenous man during a 2023 arrest in Winnipeg will be examined during a future inquest.

Manitoba’s chief medical examiner has ordered an inquest into the death of a 37-year-old Indigenous man who was punched repeatedly by Winnipeg police officers during a 2023 arrest.

Elias Whitehead of Split Lake, Man., died on Oct. 15, 2023, while being arrested and physically restrained by two Winnipeg police officers near Broadway and Sherbrook Street.

The arrest was captured on video by a witness. Police were responding to reports of an intoxicated man who was running into traffic and was trying to get into vehicles.

According to a March 2026 report from the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, Whitehead was punched nearly two dozen times during the arrest by police officers and kneed several times. An autopsy report determined Whitehead’s cause of death was subdual and prone restraint by police officers complicated by cocaine intoxication and an enlarged heart.

Crown prosecutors ultimately declined to recommend charges, saying there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction, but the IIU issued a recommendation for Winnipeg police to reevaluate its use of force policies.

The inquest will look at the circumstances surrounding Whitehead’s death and determine if anything can be done to prevent similar deaths from happening.

• With files from CTV’s Jeff Keele and The Canadian Press