Mountie regrets shooting, killing young Nunavut man
GJOA HAVEN, NUNAVUT An RCMP officer says he's sorry he shot and killed an armed man in a remote Nunavut community five years ago, but defended his actions at a coroner's inquest into the death.
Cpl. Ian Crowe finished testifying Wednesday at the inquest into the death of 21-year-old Charles Qirngnirq on Dec. 19, 2016, in the hamlet of Gjoa Haven.
Crowe told The Canadian Press that it's still difficult for him to talk about that day and he hadn't spoken much about it since he was investigated by Ottawa police. The police service, which investigates all incidents in the territory, determined Crowe should not be criminally charged with the shooting.
“I am sorry for my actions … and I wish I could take it back,” Crowe said outside the community hall where the inquest is taking place.
A jury has heard that Qirngnirq was outside the hamlet's airport with a rifle and was upset that his girlfriend and his young son were leaving to fly to the community of Kugaaruk. Police had received reports earlier that day that he was suicidal.
Crowe and his partner, Cpl. Tanya Kellogg, the only two officers in the hamlet that day, both testified that it appeared Qirngnirq lifted his rifle at them.
They said they feared for their lives and the community's safety.
The jury is to determine the cause of Qirngnirq's death. While lawyers for the coroner and Qirngnirq's family have said they will argue his death was a homicide, the RCMP'S lawyer has said it was suicide.
Crowe, who at the time had been an officer for about eight years and worked in Nunavut for 18 months, said he had arrested Qirngnirq in the past and the two “didn't always have friendly interactions.”
He said he and Kellogg stopped their police vehicle about 150 metres from Qirngnirq, near the airport. Crowe got out with a carbine rifle and crouched behind the front of the vehicle. He said he thought he could see Qirngnirq better through the gun's scope, but wasn't able to zoom in.
“A part of me completely forgot what the experience would be like to grab the carbine rifle and look through the scope,” he said.
“My awareness shot up through the roof,” he said. “Everything I was hoping to better assess just went out the window.”
Crowe testified Qirngnirq yelled that he wanted to die. Both officers also said Qirngnirq did not acknowledge them until moments before he was shot.
“Charles presented a threat to us but it wasn't immediate,” Crowe said. “I was authorized to use lethal force … By definition, I could have shot him immediately.”
At one point, the officer said, it seemed like Qirngnirq pointed his rifle toward them. Crowe then shot Qirngnirq and he dropped to the ground. The rifle lying next to him, later found to be unloaded, with two bullets next to it.
Crowe said he believed Qirngnirq's intentions at the time were to kill his girlfriend and himself, because of the two bullets.
However, Sheldon Toner, the lawyer for the Nunavut coroner, clarified that the bullets were for a different calibre of rifle and would not have worked in the .3006 Springfield that Qirngnirq was carrying.
Qirngnirq was taken to the community's nursing station and died before he could be airlifted to a hospital.