The family of Craig McDougall, the 26-year-old man shot and killed by a city police officer Saturday will be holding a press conference tomorrow morning near the Simcoe St. home where the incident took place.
McDougall, reported to be the nephew of J.J. Harper, an aboriginal leader that was also shot and killed by police 20 years ago, was said to have been brandishing a knife outside 788 Simcoe St. And refused to comply with police orders to drop it.
Police officers attend scene at 788 Simcoe St. Saturday morning.
Police said they shot McDougall after a Taser did not work to subdue him. He was rushed to hospital in critical condition where he died.
Wasagamack First Nation has confirmed that McDougall is from that reserve, about 560 km northeast of Winnipeg, and that he is Harper's nephew.
The fatal confrontation came just 10 days after 17-year-old Michael Langan perished in the city's first Taser death.
Police spokesperson Const. Jacqueline Chaput said police were called to the West End neighbourhood at approximately 5:15 a.m. Saturday after receiving a number of calls for assistance from someone inside 788 Simcoe St.
Chaput said officers were confronted by a man holding a knife who refused to comply with police orders to drop the weapon.
Neighbour Brittney Ramsey, who lives across the street, saw paramedics try to revive man.
One officer tried to subdue him with a Taser, but was unsuccessful, she said, adding that the officers needed to use lethal force to stop the threat.
Police said it's too early to tell whether the Taser malfunctioned, or if the device's electronic probes failed to attach to the suspect.
"I don't know if it's a deployment issue or another issue," Chaput said.
Chaput couldn't say how many shots were fired, but neighbors believe they heard five to seven shots.
"The shots were loud enough that it felt like it was right here."
Brittney Ramsey, a neighbor who lives across the street from the residence, looked outside after the shooting.
"I went to the window and a female cop was pointing her gun toward two people trying to get the door open, they were holding it shut," she said.
"The female officer was just yelling, 'Step away from the door, step away from the door.'"
Ramsey later watched paramedics beat the chest of the man who had been shot, trying to resuscitate him. Police said he died in a Winnipeg hospital.
paul.gackle@free.press.mb.cajames.turner@freepress.mb.ca
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