Winnipeg officer's use of force in fatal shooting justified: police watchdog

Manitoba's police watchdog agency is not recommending charges against a Winnipeg officer who shot and killed a driver who pinned the officer with a stolen vehicle while attempting to flee during a traffic stop.

In its final report on the incident, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba — which investigates all serious matters involving police in the province — says its investigation found the use of lethal force was justified. 

Although not named in the report, CBC has previously identified the man shot by police as Dustin Hatcher, a 39-year-old father of three. 

In November 2023, Hatcher and his partner at the time, Carrie Blaydon, were in a pickup truck parked in a lane behind Dalhousie Drive near Pembina Highway, when they were approached by two officers, Blaydon told CBC in a December 2023 interview. She said she was driving the vehicle when they were stopped.

In an interview with the police watchdog, one of the officers said he and his partner were assigned to traffic duty that night when they came across the truck, which had a temporary permit, according to the IIU's final report, completed in February and published on Wednesday.

A check found the truck matched the description of one on a stolen vehicles list, so the officers followed it to a parking stall, where the officers pulled behind, investigators were told.

Both officers stepped out of their vehicles and approached the pickup from different sides. The officer who spoke with the investigative unit went to the front passenger seat, where Hatcher was sitting, and asked him to get out of the vehicle. 

Pinned officer fired shots 

The officer who shot Hatcher declined to be interviewed by the investigative unit, but provided a statement and his notes, the IIU report said.

He said he went to the driver's-side door of the pickup and stood between it and another vehicle. He knocked on the window and asked the driver to get out of the truck, according to the report.

After the woman got out of the car, Hatcher slid to the driver's seat and grabbed the steering wheel, according to the officer's statement. The officer said he heard the engine revving.

The officer tried to pull Hatcher from the vehicle and told him to stop, warning his partner that he was planning to drive away, but the woman pushed the officer, according to his statement.

The officer said he heard the revving get louder and could feel the truck moving. He felt pressure in his hip area and was lifted off the ground, as the space between the two vehicles narrowed, his statement said.

Blaydon, who was also interviewed by the IIU, told investigators she pushed back against the officer, preventing him from reaching Hatcher, at which point she could feel the officer behind her getting pinned against the vehicle behind him. She told investigators it was not the pickup truck that was pinning the officer against the other vehicle.

The officer's statement said he grabbed his gun and fired two shots at Hatcher, before the officer's body went limp and he fell to the ground, the IIU report says.

His statement says the next thing he remembers is looking up from the ground and hearing an engine revving in the distance. He walked toward the truck, which had crashed into a fence, and saw Hatcher slumped over the steering wheel.

Hatcher was taken to Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre in critical condition, where he later died from the gunshot wounds, the IIU report said.

The IIU investigation also included interviews with seven other civilian witnesses, in addition to Blaydon, and two other officers. The investigative unit also reviewed video footage, and determined that no other shots were fired after the vehicle crashed into the fence. 

Bruce Sychuk, the unit's acting civilian director, called the death a "tragic incident," but said the use of lethal force was justified, citing a section of the Criminal Code dealing with the use of such force.

His report said there are "no reasonable grounds to support any charges" against the officer, and that the IIU's investigation on the matter is closed.