Police Shoot and Kill 32-Year-Old Man in Summerside, Prince Edward Island (May 27, 2018)

Police in Summerside, Prince Edward Island (PEI) shot and killed a 32-year-old man early Sunday, May 27, 2018.

Details remain sketchy and reporting raises some questions. For example, police reported that the man succumbed to injuries after he became violent during an arrest and media ran with this. The injuries that killed him though were inflicted by police violence, not his own violence. The police statement also says: “During the encounter, two officers discharged their service pistols, injuring the suspect.” But, they did not injure the suspect, they killed him. Again, media simply took the police statement at face value.

Police reported that they received a 911 call at around 12:30 AM regarding an alleged forced entry and robbery. It is reported that there were four people involved in the alleged entry and robbery. No one was seriously injured at that time. These reports have not been independently confirmed publicly. The supposed suspects were found at a home some five hours later and the police victim was killed there. The man was taken to Prince County hospital where he was pronounced dead at around 1 PM.

The Nova Scotia Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) is investigating this killing. They have had a busy weekend with investigation underway after RCMP in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia killed 24-year-old Bradley Thomas Clattenburg on May 26.

RCMP Shoot and Kill Man in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (May 26, 2018)

RCMP shot and killed a 24-year-old man in the Westphal neighborhood of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, on Saturday, May 26, 2018. Neighbors reported seeing a heavy police presence and armed officers in the area and one person reported hearing two shots fired.

The province’s Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), the agency that examines cases of police harm to civilians in Nova Scotia, is investigating the killing. Nova Scotia RCMP say that police were responding to a complaint about one man threatening another man at 7:48 AM. They state that they blocked off an area between 40 Broom Road and Highway 7 and undertook a search with police dogs. They claim that officers encountered the man in a wooded area and officers discharged their weapons. None of the police claims have been confirmed and no further details have been provided publicly.

High Speed Police Chase Leaves 22-Year-Old Dead in Saguenay, Quebec (May 17, 2018)

A 22-year-old man was killed during a high speed police chase on May 17, 2018. The chase ended when the fleeing vehicle crashed into an oncoming vehicle. The chase and crash happened the morning of May 17, 2018, in Métabetchouan-Lac-à-la-Croix, 225 kilometers north of Quebec City, on the southern shore of Lac Saint-Jean, in Saguenay.

Quebec’s Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), the body that examines police interventions connected to deaths or injuries in the province, is investigating the chase and crash. They report that the man, who was driving a Honda Civic, was going 123 km/h when a police officer decided to follow him. One witness says that is when the driver sped up. No public explanation has been provided for why the officer decided to follow the vehicle. The BEI reports that the police chase lasted for about seven kilometers. One other person was slightly injured while another was treated for shock.

The BEI has assigned eight investigators to the case. The BEI is not an independent body and relies on other police forces for assistance with investigations.

Police Shoot and Kill Man at Ferry Terminal in Nanaimo (May 8, 2018)

RCMP and Island District Emergency Response Team officers were involved in shooting and killing a man at the Departure Bay ferry terminal in Nanaimo, British Columbia on the morning of May 8, 2018.  Both the Independent Investigations Office of BC, the agency that examines cases of police harm to civilians in the province, and the BC Coroners Service have been called to investigate the killing.

Initial reports, which have not been independently and autonomous confirmed, suggest that RCMP officers were attempting to arrest a man who was suspected in a car theft in another part of the province. The vehicle was reportedly stopped and the man allegedly exited when he was shot by police. He later died of the injuries inflicted by police.

One witness, former Saanich mayor Frank Leonard, who was waiting to board the ferry at the time of the killing, told CBC News that he heard several, perhaps as many as eight, shots fired.

Another witness, Ed Pearce, a former West Vancouver police officer, saw the police operation unfold and also reported hearing as many as eight shots. He also said he heard a loud bang and looked over to see a vehicle being rammed by what he believed was an Emergency Response Team vehicle. He reports that he then heard a “huge explosion” that he said sounded like a flash or stun grenade. Other witnesses also reported hearing the loud explosion.