Brother of Lucien Silverquill questions whether RCMP could have avoided shooting him

Moses Silverquill sobbed as he crouched beside a stained patch of ground outside a home on the Fishing Lake First Nation.

"You can see the big blood stain where he was bleeding out," said Silverquill, referring to his brother Lucien.

Lucien Silverquill died Tuesday after being shot twice by RCMP.

"Probably the gunshot wound to the chest maybe, I don't know. That's where he dropped," Moses said.

On Tuesday, officers from the Wadena detachment were called to a home on the Fishing Lake First Nation at roughly 1:23 p.m. CST, according to RCMP. Someone had reported that a man armed with a knife was causing a disturbance outside of their home.

Moses said he arrived on the scene shortly after his 37-year-old brother Lucien had been shot. Lucien was alive at the time but in pain, according to Moses. He said Lucien had been shot once in the leg and once in the chest. 

"It was very hard to get answers from [RCMP] as to what was going on with my brother," Moses said. 

He said no one from his family was allowed to go near Lucien.

According to Moses, officers were trying to handcuff and subdue his brother after they shot him. He estimates it was around half an hour before Lucien was put into the ambulance.

"It was a very horrific scene when we got there.... They didn't give him CPR or anything like that. They just pinned him to the ground. That's what we saw," Moses said.

"They could have saved him."

Lucien was pronounced dead at the scene by medics, according to RCMP.

Moses said during the time he was at the scene, a STARS ambulance landed and left.

He said he has a lot of questions about how the incident happened and how it was dealt with. He questioned if the officers could have used a Taser on his brother instead.

"I know the police officer that did the shooting must be really emotionally disturbed but was it dealt with properly? That's the question.... Could this guy's life have been saved?" he said.

Moses, who said he has not given a statement to police, said the Silverquill family has hired Saskatoon lawyer Ron Piche to represent them.

RCMP said the two officers involved in the shooting were relieved as soon as possible, as dictated by protocol.

The Moose Jaw Police Service has been appointed to investigate the incident and RCMP requested the Ministry of Justice appoint an independent observer to "assess the quality" of the external investigation.

Moses said his brother thrived when he was with his family. 

"My brother was a good person.... He had kids. He left little kids," he said.

"I know he was a caring guy when he was with his family."

Fishing Lake First Nation is 240 kilometres east of Saskatoon.

With files from CBC's Guy Quenneville