Family of student killed in encounter with police threatens civil lawsuit

The family of an international university student who was shot and killed by a police officer — after he approached them while carrying two knives — say they’re “disappointed” and considering further legal action after an external review cleared the officer.

“We just wanted (a) thorough, impartial investigation, and we are not happy with what we got, the time already spent has not produced one, and we can not accept the outcome of that investigation,” Yemisi Opaso, the sister of Afolabi Opaso, told reporters through a virtual call from Texas Friday.

“Instead of clarity, we are now left with more, more, and more unanswered questions.”

Afolabi Opaso, a 19-year-old economics student from Nigeria, was shot three times after police responded to a wellness check call on Dec. 31, 2023.

Alberta’s police watchdog reviewed the shooting because the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba determined there may be a conflict of interest if it conducted the probe. An employee of Manitoba Justice was a close relative of one of the officers involved in the shooting.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team determined that Opaso, armed with knives, ran at the officers, and was likely experiencing a mental health crisis. The investigation, published in late August, determined the officer, who declined to be interviewed or provide a report, had acted reasonably.

Jean-Rene Dominique Kwilu, a lawyer for the Opaso family, dismissed the report as “a blue wall protecting a blue wall” and said they would advise the family about further legal action.

“I can assure you that they will avail themselves of the civil legal opportunity they have before the law,” he said.

The family still wants to know why the call was not treated as a mental health situation and questions whether Opaso ran at police, considering the short time between when police told Opaso to drop his weapon and when they shot him.

“The determinative issue in this entire matter is the running, because if Mr. Afolabi Opaso did not run, that means there was no threat, it means they killed him for nothing,” said Benjamin Nkana Bassi, another lawyer for the family.

Because police weren’t wearing body cameras, there’s no way to know for sure, both lawyers said, and hoped the case would lead to an investment in body cameras for Winnipeg police and mental health support workers.

“If they were wearing cameras, then we wouldn’t need this waste of time on an investigation for two years,” Kwilu said.

The family took on debt to bury their son, and have not received financial compensation, Bassi said.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca