Provincial court inquest clears police in 2019 fatal shooting

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This article was published 20/10/2022 (1447 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A provincial court inquest has found three Winnipeg police officers were justified in fatally shooting a man high on methamphetamine carrying a hatchet.

On Jan. 11, 2019, the officers shot Chad Johnathan Williams, 26, on the snow-covered lawn of a vacant home at 536 Sherbrook St. after a foot pursuit, provincial court Judge Julie Frederickson wrote in a Oct. 14 inquest report.

Two officers, who spotted Williams walking along Sargent Avenue, near Sherbrook and Furby streets, recognized him from a “be on the lookout” notice about a domestic assault involving a weapon. They chased Williams on foot after he fled when they pulled over their police cruiser to ask him questions, the judge wrote.

Soon after, a group of police officers had formed a semi-circle in front of Williams, with a tall fence to his back, and repeatedly told him to drop a hatchet he was holding. The man refused. Police then used a Taser electroshock weapon on him, which wasn’t successful, before Williams motioned to throw the weapon, Frederickson wrote.

Sgt. Scott Southby and Consts. Jensen Novak and Steven Thompson opened fire, hitting Williams seven times, before officers gave him first aid, Frederickson wrote. He was taken by ambulance to Health Sciences Centre, where he died Jan. 12 following several surgeries.

Frederickson said police evidence and witnesses was all fairly consistent — seven testified, six of which were present at the shooting. The seventh arrived shortly afterward.

Civilian witnesses did not see the hatchet, Frederickson said, but the weapon was located at the scene and security footage obtained for the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba’s probe into the shooting showed Williams holding it.

The evidence presented by civilian witnesses, via statements or videos of the shooting, was observed from a distance, Frederickson wrote, but their observations corroborated many aspects of the police evidence.

“What unfolded over the course of less than two minutes was an urgent situation, beginning with an officer in a foot pursuit of a man armed with a hatchet, suspected of being involved in a domestic assault with a weapon,” she wrote.

“It may be easy for members of the public to question or be cynical of police response in situations like this.”

Frederickson said she was satisfied by the evidence Williams had intended to throw the hatchet, rather than drop it. She wrote police actions leading to the shooting were consistent with their training.

A toxicology report showed he had levels of methamphetamine in his blood — a drug Frederickson called “terrible and dangerous” — consistent with high-dose or binge use.

“The use of lethal force was in response to the very real threat that Mr. Williams was about to throw the hatchet at officers. If the throw had been completed, it was foreseeable that one of the officers could have been struck and seriously injured,” she wrote in her conclusion.

She made no recommendations, which inquest judges are able to do to prevent similar deaths from occurring in the future.

The inquest was held April 25-28. Williams’ family declined to participate after initially being granted standing.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca