The New Brunswick RCMP is asking for an independent agency to conduct a review of police actions following shooting incident involving RCMP members in St. Stephen, N.B.
On September 16, 2021, at approximately 4 a.m., members of the St. Stephen RCMP Detachment responded to report of an individual in mental distress with a weapon outside a home on Ross Avenue. When police arrived on scene, they were confronted by a man armed with a machete. The man refused to drop the weapon when instructed to do so and advanced towards police. An RCMP member discharged a firearm. First aid was immediately administered at the scene, and the man was taken to hospital with a gunshot wound. No one else suffered physical injuries.
"Use of force is never an action taken lightly," says Cpl. Hans Ouellette of the New Brunswick RCMP. "We are committed to being accountable and transparent to the communities we serve about police actions. That is why it is standard practice for the New Brunswick RCMP to seek an independent agency to review our actions when there are serious incidents involving our police officers."
As New Brunswick does not have an independent review agency, the RCMP asked the New Brunswick Department of Justice and Public Safety to identify an agency to conduct the independent review of this incident. The New Brunswick RCMP will cooperate fully with the review.
The members involved in the incident have been offered support services, and have been placed on administrative duties pending the outcome of the review.