Nova Scotia’s Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) has found there are no grounds for criminal charges following a police-involved shooting in St. Stephen last September.
RCMP officers responded to a call of a person in mental distress with a machete on Ross Avenue on Sept. 16, 2021.
An officer discharged their firearm after the man allegedly advanced toward police with the weapon. A 26-year-old man was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound.
An investigation followed after a request from the Department of Justice and Public Safety through a memorandum of understanding with SiRT.
The report found the two officers involved were both aware the person had assaulted someone with a machete earlier that morning. The person still had the machete when the officers first saw him.
SiRT concluded the man refused to drop the machete despite efforts by the officers to de-escalate the situation.
The man kept moving toward the officers with the weapon after they ordered him to stop.
“This description of events was confirmed by the officers involved and by the man in a statement he provided to the SiRT investigator,” said a news release from Justice and Public Safety.
“According to the report, the subject officer had reasonable grounds to believe the force used was necessary to protect himself and his fellow officer from death or serious harm.”
You can view the SiRT report on the incident by clicking here.
