Man shot, killed by police accused in drug bust last year

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This article was published 05/12/2022 (1068 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 38-year-old man fatally shot by Winnipeg police at a St. James intersection over the weekend was one of four people charged in a $1.5-million drug bust last year.

The man was identified by family members Monday as Jonathan Alexander Herntier of Winnipeg.

Herntier, a father and an alleged drug trafficker, was shot by an officer when police stopped a car at Portage Avenue and Bourkevale Drive around 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Officers stopped the vehicle in an attempt to arrest the man, who was wanted on warrants, according to the Independent Investigation Unit, Manitoba’s police watchdog.

A source described it as a “high-risk” traffic stop.

Members of the tactical support team were among those involved, said Winnipeg police spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon.

Neither police nor the IIU explained why Herntier was wanted.

Police initially went to a residence to arrest the man, who was seen driving away, the IIU said Monday in a news release.

A “use of force encounter” occurred when police stopped the car at Portage and Bourkevale, resulting in an officer firing his service gun, the agency said.

Neither police nor the IIU would reveal specific details about what happened or how many shots were fired.

Police said officers immediately provided emergency medical care to the man, who died after being taken to Health Sciences Centre in critical condition.

The IIU has assigned a team of investigators to probe the shooting.

Founded in 2015, the watchdog is mandated to investigate incidents where someone is shot by a police officer in Manitoba.

The IIU is asking witnesses or anyone with information or video footage to call investigators at 1-844-667-6060.

Herntier was charged with 56 offences after city police seized more than $1.5 million in illicit drugs, several guns and $150,000 in cash in August 2021 in an investigation into alleged drug trafficking.

The charges were still before the courts, according to records.

Investigators raided homes in the first 100 block of Dalhousie Drive and the 200 block of Provencher Boulevard, and a hotel room on Pembina Highway, police said at a news conference in September 2021, where drugs and guns were displayed by police.

Members of the organized crime and guns and gang units showed off the seizure, which included almost 18 kilograms of methamphetamine with a street value of nearly $900,000.

Police also seized 2.7 kg of cocaine, 8.5 kg of Xanax pills, 1.5 kg of psilocybin or magic mushrooms, and 500 grams of fentanyl.

A .40-calibre Sig Sauer P320 handgun, a GSG MP40 rifle and a nine-millimetre Ruger PC Carbine rifle with an “obliterated” serial number were among the firearms found by investigators, according to police.

Officers also discovered ammunition and two smoke grenades.

At the time, police said a social media post about a gun triggered the investigation and led to arrests a day later on Aug. 19, 2021.

Four days before the arrests, a photo of a man holding a rifle was posted on a Facebook page belonging to Herntier.

The photo was posted on the same account Jan. 31, 2018.

In December 2021, a Court of King’s Bench judge granted the Manitoba government’s request to seize almost $3,700 in Canadian and U.S. cash, and 16 prepaid gift cards under the Criminal Property Forfeiture Act.

The cash and gift cards were in Herntier’s possession when he was arrested, according to a statement of claim.

The director of criminal property forfeiture also sought to seize almost $134,000 in cash partially separated into bundles and fastened with elastic bands.

The cash was found in a “roller-style briefcase” in a hotel room in the 2900 block of Pembina Highway.

Herntier was the room’s registered guest, according to the statement of claim.

Manitoba law allows the government to seize assets, such as homes or cars, that are confirmed or alleged to be proceeds of crime or were used to commit one.

The statement of claim lists multiple previous convictions of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking

In 2019, Herntier was sentenced to 435 days spent in pre-trial custody plus an extra 177 days.

A 2018 conviction led to a sentence of 547 days and 12 hours in prison.

Saturday’s incident is the third fatal officer-involved shooting in Winnipeg this year.

Around 2 a.m. on Aug. 27, a man was fatally shot by officers when he approached them with a weapon outside a home in Windsor Park, according to the IIU.

Police went to the home after a car failed to stop at a checkstop on Portage Avenue near Empress Street.

On June 17, an officer fatally shot a male during a “confrontation” after the male approached the driver’s side door of a police cruiser with a knife, the IIU said previously.

The shooting occurred during a traffic stop at Salter Street and Mountain Avenue in the North End.

— with files from Dean Pritchard and Erik Pindera

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching