Paramedics detail scene of 2018 death in police custody By: Marsha McLeod Posted: 7:13 PM CST Monday, Nov. 20, 2023

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/11/2023 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two Winnipeg paramedics found a motionless Matthew Fosseneuve handcuffed and face-down in a downtown intersection in July 2018, as police officers and firefighters stood by, an inquest into the deaths of five Manitoba men heard.

On Monday, the two paramedics (Keenan Dyck and Alix Savard) both said they quickly realized Fosseneuve, 34, was not breathing and had no carotid pulse. One began giving him CPR; the other removed a Taser electroshock weapon dart from Fosseneuve’s back.

Dyck and Savard said, in separate testimony, the city police officers and two firefighters (at least one of whom was a paramedic) were standing five feet or more away from Fosseneuve.

“I asked when was the last time he said anything and someone responded, ‘He was just talking a minute ago,’” Dyck told the court. “No one had any hands on (Fosseneuve) when we arrived.”

The paramedics testified on the eighth of a 17-day inquest into the deaths of five men, each following individual altercations with members of the Winnipeg Police Service, over a roughly 12-month period beginning in 2018.

Inquests, which are prohibited from laying blame, are meant to examine the circumstances of certain deaths and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.

The evidence portion of the group inquest is nearing its close, having heard testimony into the deaths of Fosseneuve, Patrick Gagnon, Sean Thompson and Michael Bagot. The inquest will examine Randy Cochrane’s July 2019 death next week.

Expert witness testimony will follow in 2024, as well as a few remaining fact witnesses.

Cochrane’s is the only family being represented by a lawyer at the inquest. The men’s individual families have, however, been present in court for all testimony concerning their loved ones.

On Monday, members of those families held a rally outside the Winnipeg courthouse over lunchtime to show support, remember those who have died and reiterate a call for a public inquiry into the deaths of people in Manitoba police custody.

The demand for a public inquiry was first made by the family of Eishia Hudson, a 16-year-old Ojibwa girl who was shot and killed by a Winnipeg police officer in April 2020.

Emily Bagot-Sideen, a cousin of Bagot, addressed the crowd of more than 25 supporters Monday, saying the delay in holding the inquest has been a “major disservice” to the people who died, their families and the broader community.

Bagot-Sideen noted there are “some patterns and some similarities” among the families at the inquest, including grief and pain.

“All the nights that we can’t sleep and the days we can’t get out of bed because our loved ones are no longer here with us,” she said. “Our loved ones are valuable and their lives mattered and our grief matters.”

More than a half-dozen members of Bagot’s family were present, alongside relatives of Thompson, Eishia and Michael Sankar, who died in August, following an interaction with Winnipeg police.

Sankar’s death is still being investigated by the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba.

His mother, Chandra Sankar, first shared a prayer in Hindi before addressing the crowd. Speaking softly and holding a photo of her 30-year-old son, Sankar said no family should have to go through what her family is experiencing, adding “this should never happen again.”

“(Michael) lost his life four months ago. It’s heartbreaking and it’s hard to understand why,” she said. “He was a loving, kind, generous son.”

Eishia’s father, William Hudson, also spoke, saying his heart was with the other families. Referencing the upcoming inquest into the teen’s death, he added: “I’m going to be in those same shoes sometime next year.”

Hudson said the only way to get accountability is if the IIU is changed and a public inquiry is called. “When we get the police investigating police, they’re not going to get charged, we are not going to get accountability that way at all.”

Last week, in the portion of the inquest into Fosseneuve’s death, the court heard the man called 911 from a payphone, requesting assistance in getting into a drug detox. Fosseneuve became upset, however, as he believed both his foster mother, as well as the 911 dispatcher, had hung up on him.

He later threw objects at a Winnipeg police cadet vehicle and tried to open the passenger-side door.

Last week, foster mother Kathy Friesen told reporters Fosseneuve, who was Cree, would likely have responded better to someone who was also Indigenous — and not in a police uniform.

He did not have a “good picture” of the police, she noted. Friesen also said police in her hometown of Morden would have responded to Fosseneuve “differently” than officers in Winnipeg did.

Several Winnipeg police officers and cadets who testified at the inquest last week said Fosseneuve was Tasered and fell to the ground, where officers handcuffed him and restrained him face-down.

Officers said Fosseneuve lost consciousness and was then placed into the recovery position — on his side, though with his ankles bound by a restraint known as a “Ripp Hobble.”

When Fosseneuve regained consciousness, he began fighting again, officers said, so the man was placed in a face-down position a second time — and again, lost consciousness.

marsha.mcleod@freepress.mb.ca