ManitobaManitoba’s police watchdog has cleared RCMP of wrongdoing in the shooting death of a man earlier this year in a small southern Manitoba community.Man had mixture of intoxicants in blood, threatened to kill his entire family: IIU reportCBC News · Posted: Oct 02, 2025 2:41 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoThe actions of an RCMP officer who fatally shot a man in Dominion City earlier this year were reasonable in the circumstances, the IIU has determined. (CBC/Radio-Canada)Manitoba’s police watchdog has cleared RCMP of wrongdoing in the shooting death of a man earlier this year in a small southern Manitoba community.The man, 33, was shot on the morning of Jan. 14 after walking directly toward an officer while refusing to drop a metal pipe he was holding despite numerous warnings, according to a report released Thursday by the provincial Independent Investigation Unit.As the man approached, the officer retreated, aiming his gun at the man and issuing repeated warnings, according to the report, which is based on interviews with five witnesses, officers’ notes, audio transmissions, video, and medical and forensic reports.The officer fired his gun when the man was approximately 8-10 feet away, stopping him instantly. The man was flown by air ambulance to hospital where he died.According to the IIU report, the police were called to a home in Dominion City, a community of just over 300 people about 80 kilometres south of Winnipeg, about a suicidal man who had overdosed on a mixture of intoxicants and pills, and threatened to kill his entire family.A witness, a family member, told the IIU she had taken the man to hospital a few days before the incident, seeking assistance for his mental health. He was not admitted, but was instead prescribed more medication for depression and anxiety.On the day of the incident, the witness found the man vomiting in the bathroom where, she said, he told her he had taken prescription pills and mixed them with alcohol to commit suicide, the report states. He had also injected a vial of testosterone into a vein.After the man threatened to kill his family, the woman left the house. When the man exited, she went back in and locked the door, the report states, noting there were children inside and she was trying to protect them.The man banged on the door to get in as the witness called 911 again.Another witness, unidentified in the IIU report, testified he arrived before RCMP and saw the man holding three knives. The man told that witness he was going to fight the officers when they showed up.When the first officer on scene, the one who fired the fatal shot, the man was in a garage. The officer parked his cruiser behind a vehicle to prevent the man from driving away.The officer called for the man to come out of the garage with his hands raised. That’s when the man exited, holding a pipe and walking at the officer, the report states.Paramedics had also arrived and were nearby when the shooting happened. They provided emergency care until the air ambulance arrived.The preliminary autopsy report determined the man died from a single gunshot wound, while toxicology reports noted his blood system contained a combination of ethanol, cocaine, benzoylecgonine, cocoa ethylene, lorazepam, sertraline, desmethylsertaline, ketamine and rocuronium.Based on a review of all available evidence, the IIU’s civilian director has decided not to authorize charges and has deemed the investigation closed.
Police watchdog clears Mountie in fatal shooting of Manitoba man
