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Ottawa police determine no charges necessary against RCMP officer in Kinngait fatal shooting

RCMP
The RCMP will offer a four-month training course in Nunavut beginning in January 2020 in partnership with the Makigiaqta Inuit Training Corporation. Wikimedia Commons photo

There are no grounds to proceed with criminal charges against an RCMP officer who shot and killed Attachie Ashoona in Kinngait on Feb. 26, an Ottawa Police Service (OPS) investigation has found.

An RCMP officer acted within the confines of the law when fatally shooting Kinngait's Attachie Ashoona on Feb. 26, according to an Ottawa Police Service (OPS) investigation. The details of the incident were not provided in an OPS news release issued Monday afternoon.

"...the RCMP officer’s use of lethal force did not exceed the use of force necessary to control the situation, as per section 25 of the Criminal Code of Canada," OPS stated in a news release issued Monday afternoon.

No further details of the incident were disclosed.

OPS sent two homicide unit investigators and two forensic officers to Kinngait undertake the probe, which resulted in an investigative report nearly 24 weeks later.

Five RCMP officers and 10 civilian witnesses were interviewed as part of the investigation, according to OPS. The territorial Department of Justice and Nunavut RCMP have been notified of the investigation's conclusion.

OPS "does not and will not release the investigative report publicly," stated Supt. Chris Renwick of the Ottawa police force's Criminal Investigations Directorate.

Kinngait Mayor Timoon Toonoo said the RCMP owe an explanation to the community for the tragic incident. 

“Oh yes, very much so,” Toonoo said. “People were shocked, very shocked.”