Fatal police shooting of man armed with bat cleared by IIU

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This article was published 17/05/2023 (907 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two Winnipeg officers who fatally shot a man charging at them with a baseball bat were justified in their actions, the province’s police oversight agency has determined.

In a final report issued Wednesday, Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba director Zane Tessler said the series of events began in the early morning of Aug. 27, 2022.

The man, whose name and age haven’t been released, drove his Chevrolet Camaro past Winnipeg Police Service officers at a vehicle check stop on Portage Avenue, near Polo Park mall, at about 1:50 a.m.

A toxicology report later revealed he was under the influence of alcohol and medications.

Tessler said the lead-up to the shooting, the shooting and its aftermath were captured on the police helicopter’s camera, which investigators reviewed, along with police documents and interviews with witnesses.

The man led police on the ground and in the helicopter on a chase to Bernier Bay in Windsor Park, arriving outside his home at about 2:12 a.m.

After police pulled in the back lane near his vehicle, the man grabbed a baseball bat, charging at one officer, who used his Taser, before another officer arrived and distracted him, Tessler wrote.

The man went back to his vehicle, but then charged at the first officer again with the bat raised.

Both officers fired their service pistols at the man, striking him 13 times, but he continued to walk toward the first officer, Tessler wrote.

The man then fell to the ground and officers called for an ambulance. He was pronounced dead at the Health Sciences Centre.

“The circumstances of this incident are tragic. The potential for more serious injuries and loss of life was high,” the report says.

“(The man’s) decision to arm himself and charge at police officers was unexplained and dangerous. (The officers’) use of lethal force was necessary to eliminate the significant risk to public safety and lives posed by (the man).”

The IIU said the shooting was authorized and justified by law.

— Staff