Mountie cleared in Roseau River standoff

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/04/2023 (945 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE province’s police oversight agency has cleared a Mountie who shot sponge rounds at two men during a suspected armed-and-barricaded incident in Roseau River three years ago.

An Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba final report, issued Monday by director Zane Tessler, found the officer used justifiable force in the March 23, 2020, incident.

RCMP, who notified the unit that same day, told the IIU the force had received a complaint of a child abduction at about 11 a.m., in which parents took off with their biological children during a supervised child and family services visit.

Mounties tracked the parents to the home of the mother’s parents in Roseau River, which is about 90 kilometres south of Winnipeg. Officers tried to recover the children but were “attacked… by approximately eight individuals, including the parents,” the report said.

RCMP said one officer ended up fighting on the ground with one of the men, who tried to grab the Mountie’s gun and kicked the officer in the face. The officer used his Taser electro-shock device on him.

The man was arrested and the seven other adults barricaded themselves inside with the children, claiming they were securing weapons, the report said.

Emergency response officers were summoned because of the threat of weapons, as well as previous dealings with the family by Ontario Provincial Police.

Negotiators arrived around 1 p.m. Around 5 p.m., a man came out of the home and “aggressively approached” the emergency response officers, the report said.

An officer shot him once in the bicep with a 40-mm less-lethal shotgun. A second man left the home and approached officers.

He was shot in the arm, too.

Both men told the IIU they weren’t aggressive with police.

Medical records showed the first man had blunt trauma on the right side of his chest, while the other man had a circular bruise on his right arm.

Tessler said the officer who fired the weapon, who gave his notes to the agency but didn’t sit for an interview, used reasonable force and no criminal charges would be justified.

However, Tessler said, RCMP senior management should review the emergency response team’s operational communication, training and interview preparedness.