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New Brunswick RCMP officer cleared of criminal charges in 2021 shooting
May 6, 2022 By The Canadian Press
May 3, 2022, St. Stephen, N.B. – Nova Scotia’s independent police watchdog has concluded there are no grounds for criminal charges after an RCMP officer shot and wounded a man in St. Stephen, N.B., last year.
The Serious Incident Response Team conducted the investigation following the Sept. 16, 2021, shooting.
It says two police officers were aware the suspect had assaulted someone with a machete earlier that morning and still had the machete when they encountered him.
Despite efforts to de-escalate the situation, the man approached the officers with the machete and six shots were fired at him.
The man was hit once in the abdomen, and he later told investigators he wanted “suicide by cop.”
The watchdog’s report says the officer had reasonable grounds to believe that using force was necessary to protect himself and his colleague from death or serious harm.
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