Police cleared in death of suicidal man

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/01/2023 (992 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A report on a man’s death in the presence of Winnipeg police in Valley Gardens last summer has found officers were not at fault.

The provincial chief medical examiner told the Independent Investigation Unit — Manitoba’s police watchdog — the man died from neck injuries after cutting and stabbing himself in a home on Henrietta Street on June 23. The IIU released its final report on the incident Friday.

An officer used a Taser on the man to get him to stop hurting himself, but the Taser “had no role or effect in causing or contributing to” the death, the medical examiner told the IIU.

“The circumstances of this incident represents another tragic example of mental-health issues and suicidal ideations in the face of police attendance,” the IIU concluded, adding “there is nothing to support a finding that there is any level of contribution by any police officer to the cause of (the man’s) death, either by action or inaction.”

Family members of the man told the IIU the man had behaved in a strange manner for a day or two before his death. They said he looked and acted “panicked and weird,” had hallucinated and disappeared for several hours.

The man was taken to an urgent care centre on the night of June 22. Hours later, after he had returned to the home on Henrietta Avenue, a family member called a crisis line because the man was “freaking out.” After the man hung up, a crisis worker called 911 to ask for help dealing with a suicidal person.

When police arrived at the home at about 12:30 a.m. on June 23, the man went to the kitchen area and grabbed a serrated knife that was 4.5 inches in length, the IIU report states.

He made rambling statements such as, “They are out to get me” before cutting and stabbing his neck.

One of two officers zapped the man with a Taser. Both officers then gave him first aid. He was declared dead at Health Science Centre after he “sustained a catastrophic injury to his neck and suffered significant blood loss.”

— Staff