Police watchdog clears officers in fatal shooting during hostage situation in Winnipeg
5-hour standoff in December 2023 ended when police saw space between man and hostage, and stormed apartment
Officers involved in a fatal shooting of a man during a hostage situation in Winnipeg's West Broadway area will not face charges.
The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba released a final report on Monday, saying it has looked into the matter and "following due consideration of all the circumstances, the civilian director will not be authorizing charges."
Around 1:45 p.m. on Dec. 28, 2023, officers were called to an apartment block the corner of Furby Street and Cornish Avenue about a 19-year-old woman being held captive by a man armed with an edged weapon.
The report said the man was holding the woman by the neck in the hallway of the third floor, according to the IIU report.
The man then barricaded himself and the woman inside a suite where officers learned there was also a child and two other adults.
The Tactical Support Team was then called out and tried negotiating with the man. Eventually, a 33-year-old woman and a three-year-old child were released from the suite, and a 23-year-old man escaped by scaling down the exterior of the building from a third-floor balcony.
Officers couldn't convince the man to release the 19-year-old woman, though.
"Out of concern for the life and well-being of the hostage a rescue plan was developed," the IIU report states.
Just after 5 p.m. the TAC team broke into the suite, during which the man was shot and killed. The woman was not injured.
Thirteen officers were interviewed as part of the IIU investigation. A civilian witness also provided a statement.
The probe also looked over notes and other reports from officers, audio transmissions between the TAC team negotiator and man who was shot, drone video, photos from the scene and forensic analysis.
Images from a drone that was able to see inside the suite showed the man holding the woman, pressing a knife to her neck. Officers had also received information the man had harmed another woman during a prior hostage situation in Calgary
One officer interviewed by the IIU said the man was yelling and agitated and the TAC team, of which the officer was part, was advised to "take action" if a situation was presented.
At one point, officers used a battering ram in an attempt to break the door down, but it only left a large hole. On several occasions, the man would walk to the gap in the door, holding the woman in front of him, and yell at the officers, the report states.
One officer fired a Taser through the hole in the door but missed the man.
The five-hour standoff ended when the drone camera showed some space between the man and the woman, who had bent down after dropping a phone.
Eight officers stormed the suite and fired multiple shots, after which the man was declared dead.
The use of lethal force by the was deemed to be justified by the IIU's civilian director, whose report says the investigation is complete and the matter is now closed.