No charges against police for shooting

Montreal police did not commit any criminal act when they fatally shot a man at the end of pursuit in June 2017, Quebec’s director of criminal prosecutions announced on Friday.

The Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales arrived at its conclusion after examining a report on the incident prepared by Quebec’s Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, which is assigned to probe any police operation in the province where death or injuries occur. A committee of two prosecutors examined the report before coming to the conclusion no charges would be laid.

On June 15, 2017, police received a 911 call concerning a man in an agitated state. When Côte- St-Luc public security officers arrived at the scene, the individual got into a car and accelerated the vehicle in their direction. A lengthy chase ended in Montreal’s West End with the officers opening fire on the driver and killing him.

The DPCP noted that a police officer can, in certain cases, use force that could seriously injure or kill if he or she believes that force is necessary to protect their life or the lives of others.

In this case, the DPCP found that given the imminent danger, the police had reasonable grounds to believe such force was necessary.