A Quebec police watchdog is investigating after an Indigenous man was fatally shot by an RCMP officer in New Brunswick.
The victim has been identified by friends and family as Rodney Levi from the Metepenagiag First Nation.
Le Bureau des Enquetes Independantes (BEI) issued a statement late Friday evening saying it was investigating the incident.
The release states that Mounties received a call to aid a person in distress who was reportedly wielding a knife around 8 p.m. Friday and tracked him down in a building.
The BEI say police tased the man several times, alleging he continued to charge them before an officer shot him. Levi was brought to a hospital where he died from his injuries.
New Brunswick RCMP also issued their own statement regarding the incident on Saturday afternoon.
Police said they responded to a call of an “unwanted person” at a home in Boom Road, near Metepenagiag First Nation, around 7:40 p.m. Friday.
“When police arrived on scene, they were confronted by a man armed with knives who charged at officers,” said the statement.
“A conductive energy weapon was deployed several times without success. An RCMP member discharged a firearm.”
The victim, who police identify as a 48-year-old man from the Metepenagiag First Nation, was treated at the scene for a gunshot wound but later died in hospital.
In a follow-up statement, the BEI said its report would be submitted to the coroner responsible for the investigation and the New Brunswick Public Prosecution Services, who will decide whether criminal charges will be laid against the officers involved.
The agency said it will be up to those authorities to decide whether the report would be made public.
This is the second officer-involved shooting of an Indigenous person in the province in the last eight days.
Chantel Moore, 26, was shot and killed by an Edmundston Police Force officer during a wellness check on June 4.
