Winnipeg man dead after being shot by police during mental health call
Manitoba’s police watchdog has launched an investigation after a 59-year-old died following a police-involved shooting.
The Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) said it initially received an order on Feb. 8 under the Manitoba Mental Health Act to apprehend a 59-year-old man and take him to hospital for a non-voluntary physician examination.
Officers said they made several attempts in the following days to apprehend him, but were met with ‘negative results.’
On Tuesday morning, officers went to the man’s home in the 200 block of Magnus Avenue. They met him at the door and say he was exhibiting ‘agitated behaviour’ and was in possession of a crowbar.
Police said as officers approached him, he set off a fire extinguisher in their direction before locking himself inside the home.
Officers called for the tactical support team. Once they arrived, they made repeated attempts to communicate with the man, who had barricaded himself in a second-storey bedroom.
According to police, the man again discharged the fire extinguisher at the tactical support team.
He eventually left the bedroom, officers said, and confronted police with a large, edged weapon.
Police said they then discharged their firearms, striking the man.
Officers said they provided emergency medical care to the man, using chest seals and a tourniquet.
He was taken to hospital in critical condition where he died.
The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU) has been notified, WPS said, and has taken over the investigation.
Acting Chief Art Stannard said at a news conference Wednesday it is tragic whenever a police interaction results in a death.
“No family wants to hear that their loved ones died during a police encounter. No one does.”
He noted Winnipeg police had a history with the man for mental health issues.
Stannard said this was not an appropriate case for Alternative Response to Citizens in Crisis (ARCC), an initiative that pairs mental health professionals with police to help people in crisis, given the safety concerns officers had.
He said police have access to non-lethal weapons, but their use is based on the circumstances of each incident.
“I cannot speak on this one because the circumstances will be reviewed by IIU.”
Police seeing increasing number of mental health orders, calls
Winnipeg police’s superintendent of community engagement Bonnie Emerson says during the first month and a half of 2024 alone, the service has responded to and provided updates on a ‘significant number of serious and violent incidents.’
Well-being events continue to trend upwards, as well, remaining the top citizen-generated call for service that WPS responds to for the fourth year in a row.
In 2023, police responded to about 58 well-being checks a day, Emerson said. That’s an increase of four per cent over 2022, and 16 per cent higher than the five-year average.
“We don’t often know what the risk to safety is until after we arrive.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.