Pimicikamak policing decried after Mountie draws gun on girls with telescope

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This article was published 17/04/2023 (1266 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The RCMP have issued an apology after an officer drew his firearm while confronting three teenage girls playing with a telescope in their yard in Pimicikamak Cree Nation.

On Monday, RCMP spokeswoman Tara Seel said the Cross Lake officer was driving past the home the evening of April 14, when he saw what he thought was a long gun being pointed at other homes.

The officer drew their police-issued sidearm and yelled at the girls (who were standing on the deck) from a distance, Seel said in an email. When he got closer, the officer saw they were playing with a telescope.

Seel said the officer followed proper protocol for a firearm-related incident.

“The intent of the officer was to ensure public safety, and the officer responded to a perceived threat immediately in the interest of keeping the public safe,” she said. “The RCMP apologizes to the youths who were frightened as a result of this incident.”

However, it is an empty apology for Dorothy Robinson, mother of two of the girls.

She said the police firearm was pointed at her daughters, 17-year-old Alandra and 15-year-old Grace, and their 15-year-old friend while they were playing outside of Robinson’s home.

“I had the curtains closed, and then my daughter came inside, and she threw the telescope on the couch,” Robinson said Monday.

“I noticed she was upset and crying, and then I asked her, ‘What’s wrong?’ And she said, ‘The cop pointed a gun at me.’”

Robinson said the officer followed the girls and apologized, but tried to enter her home and asked probing questions when she asked him to stay by the door.

“I just want the public to be aware of what these cops are capable of,” Robinson said.

Her daughters are now afraid to leave their home, she said, adding it’s been a traumatizing experience for the entire family.

Robinson is seeking to have the officer removed from their position in Cross Lake and an independent investigation into the incident: “It was upsetting… What if he shot (them) on the spot there?”

Pimicikamak Chief David Monias said the incident is especially infuriating because of what he called “issues with the quality of policing (Pimicikamak is) subject to.”

“We have outsiders coming into Pimicikamak who are dealing drugs and there has been zero enforcement from (Mounties). We had a recent incident where a woman called for assistance as there was a man present and RCMP refused to attend,” Monias said in a statement.

The chief said he wants the police watchdog Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba to get involved.

“The girls were traumatized and, obviously, we feel there was no imminent threat to the officer that would have warranted drawing his firearm, let alone point it at a group of girls,” Monias said.

Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc. said it has sent counsellors from its missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls unit to Pimicikamak to provide support to the three youth involved.

MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee said he supports Monias’s call for an independent investigation.

Pimicikamak is located some 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca