Coroner’s jury hears evidence in inquest into police shooting of Indigenous N.B. man

A five-member coroner’s jury is starting to listen to proof right now at an inquest into the police killing final 12 months of an Indigenous man in New Brunswick.

Rodney Levi, who was from the Metepenagiag First Nation, was shot useless by the RCMP on the night of June 12, 2020 after police responded to a grievance a couple of disturbance in a house in Sunny Nook, N.B.

The capturing was investigated by Quebec’s police watchdog, the Bureau des enquetes independantes, which submitted a report back to New Brunswick prosecutors in December.

A press release on the time from the provincial prosecutions service stated it was clear the officers on the scene believed Levi was utilizing pressure towards them, and he was shot to guard themselves and civilians who had been current.

Police had allegedly tried to subdue Levi 3 times utilizing an electroshock weapon earlier than they shot him twice. An post-mortem confirmed Levi had amphetamine and methamphetamine in his physique on the time of the capturing.

Coroner John Evans stated Tuesday he expects to listen to from about 27 witnesses between now and Thursday of subsequent week.

“It’s a fact-finding mission … so the general public will know what precisely occurred,” he instructed reporters. “You will hear from the individuals who had been current when this occasion occurred, which embrace some members of the RCMP. You’re additionally going to listen to from the pathologist and toxicologist and so forth.”

He stated the inquest would additionally hear proof in regards to the concern of coaching and the disaster intervention mannequin utilized by the RCMP.

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Rodney Levi’s household say their struggle to get solutions not over

Of the two-man three-woman jury, Evans stated two members are Indigenous and one other is married into an Indigenous household. “Having a jury with gender stability and cultural stability I feel goes to be very, very useful,” he stated.

Levi’s sister, Rhoda Levi, stated she was happy with the jury choice.

A coroner’s inquest doesn’t assign blame however does produce suggestions supposed to assist stop a dying underneath comparable circumstances sooner or later. Levi stated she hopes the federal government will act on the suggestions.

“I hope that the federal government does every part it might probably to implement in order that nobody else is shot and killed by the RCMP,” she stated.

Levi’s killing got here days after an Edmundston, N.B., police officer shot and killed Chantel Moore, a 26-year-old Indigenous lady, throughout a wellness examine. The 2 killings sparked anger within the province’s Indigenous group.

This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Sept. 29, 2021.