A Winnipeg police officer will be charged with attempted murder, and
another officer will be charged with lesser offences, after a man was
shot during a robbery investigation in 2007.
The police officers, who each have six years experience, have been
arrested but won't officially be charged until Friday, Winnipeg police
announced Thursday.
"These are serious allegations," Winnipeg police Chief Keith
McCaskill told reporters at a news conference. "These are profoundly
troubling allegations, and I recognize the impact that allegations like
these can have on public confidence."
He said he could not comment further on the case, as it is before the courts.
The pending charges stem from a report of a robbery that came in
shortly before 2:45 a.m. CT on July 16, 2007, on Portage Avenue, west
of Polo Park shopping centre, police said. A car chase followed, with
the officers investigating the call pursuing a man they incorrectly
believed to be involved in the robbery.
The two vehicles — the officers' car and the man's vehicle —
collided, and the officers proceeded to chase the man on foot near
Grant Avenue and Lindsay Street.
That's when the man, Kristofer Shawn Fournier, was shot in his lower body.
Police later determined that Fournier was not involved in the robbery.
He was treated in hospital for his injuries, and has since been released.
The incident triggered a lengthy investigation by the Winnipeg
Police Service. The department's findings were forwarded to the
Manitoba Department of Justice, which had a private practice lawyer
independent of the Crown's office review the file.
After the review, the Justice Department determined that charges should be laid.
One officer has been charged with:
- Attempted murder.
- Fabricating evidence.
- Discharging a firearm with intent to wound.
- Aggravated assault with a weapon.
- Careless use of a weapon.
- Aiding and abetting dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
- Criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
The second officer has been charged with:
- Fabricating evidence.
- Aiding and abetting discharge of a firearm with intent to wound.
- Aiding and abetting aggravated assault with a weapon.
- Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
Under
Canada's Criminal Code, a police officer is justified in using force
that is likely to cause serious harm, or even death, if all the
following conditions are met:
- The officer must be making a lawful arrest.
- The person being arrested must be trying to flee.
- The person being arrested cannot be caught in a less violent manner.
- The officer believes force is necessary to prevent future death or harm.
- The offence for which the person is to be arrested is one for which that person may be arrested without warrant.
The officers will be released from custody on a promise to appear in court, police said. Their first court date is June 1.
The officers have been placed on administrative leave while the police department decides what their future status will be.
The names of the officers will be released Friday.
Their arrest comes on the heels of charges in a separate incident against two other Winnipeg officers.
On March 18, Const. Graeme Beattie and Const. Paul Clark were
charged with fabricating evidence, attempting to obstruct justice and
public mischief.
The officers are accused of falsifying notes and reports that led to
a 20-year-old man being charged with drug trafficking last May.
The case wound its way through the courts for months until the Crown
stayed the charges against the man on Oct. 31. An internal police
service investigation into the officers' actions was launched in
November, resulting in the charges being laid last month.
The mischief charges stem from the alleged falsified reports, which
caused police to unnecessarily investigate a drug trafficking offence.
Beattie, 29, and Clark, 40, have both been with the Winnipeg Police
Service for three years and were most recently general patrol officers
in the North End. They have since been assigned to administrative desk
duties pending an internal review to determine their employment status.
They will appear in court May 19 on the charges.
