IIU clears officers in April 2020 fatal shooting in North End

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This article was published 05/05/2021 (1925 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has cleared two Winnipeg Police Service officers of wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of Jason Collins last spring.

Collins, 36, was one of three Indigenous people shot to death by WPS officers in the span of 10 days in April 2020, the others being Eishia Hudson, 16, and Stewart Kevin Andrews, 22. Hudson and Collins were killed within a 12-hour span on the evening of April 8 and the early-morning hours of April 9.

“I am satisfied… that the decision by (the two subject officers) to shoot (Collins) was necessary in order to prevent the injury or death of any or all of them and all other police officers in the vicinity,” IIU civilian director Zane Tessler wrote in his final report.

“Following a detailed review of this comprehensive investigation, it is my view that the use of lethal force by the subject officers was justified and unavoidable.”

The police officers who shot Collins to death did not sit down for interviews with IIU investigators, although they did turn over their notes and written statements.

One of the officers fired a single round at Collins from a “Glock model 22,” while the other fired three rounds from a “WPS issued AR15.” Collins was hit with three bullets — one in the right upper chest, one in the right upper abdomen and one through his left hand — according to the autopsy report.

The incident began at 4:34 a.m. on April 9, when WPS officers were dispatched to a home on the 300 block of Anderson Avenue after receiving a report of a domestic dispute involving a man armed with a gun.

The gun in Collins’ possession was later identified as a replica BB gun designed to look like a handgun.

When they arrived on the scene officers heard a woman screaming and forced their way inside, where they were confronted by Collins, who was holding the BB gun to his head and threatening to kill himself, the IIU said.

The officers left the home and began to communicate with Collins from outside. Eventually, he left the home and walked towards police “with a weapon pointed at them in an outstretched arm,” according to Tessler.

The two officers opened fire, striking Collins. He was taken to Health Sciences Centre where he was pronounced dead. A woman inside the home — identified as Collins’ girlfriend — was also taken to hospital in stable condition and treated for injuries. A toxicology report identified five drugs in Collins’ system at the time of his death. The autopsy report listed the cause of death as “gunshot wounds to the torso.”

“There are no grounds to justify any charges against any or all of the subject officers,” Tessler wrote.

At the end of his final report, Tessler lamented the existence of replica BB guns that are manufactured to look like firearms, saying their presence during police encounters increases the risk of fatal outcomes.

“I continue to question the social relevance, and practical purpose for the manufacturing, importation, sales and possession of replica firearms. In fact, in my view, I cannot find a single redeeming factor for the possession of a replica firearm,” he wrote.

“More needs to be done with the existence and possession of replica firearms to properly and adequately deal with this issue.”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe