Parents of U of M student fatally shot by police push for reform

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This article was published 09/01/2024 (605 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The parents of a University of Manitoba student who was fatally shot by Winnipeg police officers are advocating for systemic reforms which they believe will help prevent similar deaths.

Afolabi Stephen Opaso, 19, was having a mental health crisis when officers were called to an apartment suite at about 2:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.

The Winnipeg Police Service has said he was carrying two knives and had confronted officers when they arrived.

In a statement, Opaso’s parents, who live in Nigeria, said they are experiencing an “indescribable sense of grief,” while they await answers about the shooting at 77 University Cres.

“The circumstances surrounding our son’s death are profoundly distressing, as he was experiencing a mental breakdown at the time of the incident,” the parents wrote. “Mental health challenges should be met with empathy, understanding, and appropriate response, yet the events that unfolded demonstrate a failure in the system designed to protect and serve.

“It is our firm belief that the use of lethal force in response to a mental health crisis is not only disproportionate but also constitutes a grave injustice.”

A candlelight vigil is being organized for Friday evening at the U of M, said Jean-René Dominique Kwilu, the lawyer who represents Opaso’s family.

The WPS and the civilian police watchdog Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba have released limited details about the shooting.

Police said officers responded to a 911 call about a possibly armed man acting erratically in a suite where he was with a 19-year-old woman and 21-year-old man.

Kwilu, who provided the parents’ statement, has said the caller informed the call-taker that it was a mental health situation, and the people in the apartment were not in danger.

Opaso was armed with two knives when he confronted officers and was shot, police Chief Danny Smyth has said.

In a 26-second audio recording obtained by the Free Press, police are heard saying “drop the knife” three times before three gunshots are heard.

Nine seconds pass between the first command by police and the first shot. No other words or actions are distinguishable.

Opaso’s parents implored the IIU to conduct a “thorough and transparent” investigation into the officers’ actions.

“Our son’s life was cut short, and those responsible must be held accountable for their actions,” they wrote in the statement.

The IIU investigates officer-involved incidents which result in death or serious injury.

Opaso, an international student, was studying economics at the U of M and had no relatives in Canada.

His parents want law enforcement officers to receive more training to help de-escalate situations that involve people in mental health crises.

“We call upon authorities to re-evaluate and reform their approach to handling such delicate scenarios, prioritizing the preservation of life and the well-being of all individuals involved,” they wrote. “Mental health should not be a death sentence, and our society must evolve to address these issues with compassion and humanity.”

An online petition with a similar call had more than 9,500 signatures as of Tuesday.

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At a Jan. 4 news conference, Smyth defended the police service’s handling of well-being or mental health-related calls, which he said have been on the rise. He said a vast majority of the calls do not require the use of any force or result in injury.

Smyth said officers are “well-trained” and receive a lot of scenario-based training on mental-health situations, de-escalation and appropriate levels of force.

He said the call to the apartment suite did not meet the criteria for a program that pairs mental health clinicians and police officers. The program responds to non-emergent and non-violent situations.

“We acknowledge that the family and community are grieving and have questions,” a police spokeswoman wrote in an email Tuesday. “Like the Opaso family, we await the outcome of the IIU investigation.”

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.