No Charges Against Mounties In Rodney Levi Shooting

Crown prosecutors will not be pursuing charges against two RCMP officers involved in last June’s shooting death of Rodney Levi in Sunny Corner.

It comes after the Crown completed its review of the report from Quebec’s police watchdog into how the 48-year-old man from Metepenagiag First Nation died.

The decision and the reasons behind it were detailed in a statement released Tuesday afternoon by the Office of the Attorney General’s Public Prosecutions Services.

“In our opinion, the peace officers in question were acting lawfully to protect the residents of the home on that fateful evening,” said the statement.

The Crown said the purpose of its review was to determine, according to their policies and the law, if criminal charges were warranted against the officers involved in the shooting.

Evidence gathered by the Bureau des Enquêtes indépendantes du Québec (BEI) and contained in its report included witness statements, a short video taken by one of the witnesses showing part of the event, statements from other material witnesses, and expert reports.

“Based on our review of the evidence disclosed in the report, it is clear that on the tragic evening of June 12, 2020, the peace officers on the scene did believe, on reasonable grounds, that force or a threat of force was being used against them by Mr. Levi and that one of the officers shot at Mr. Levi for the purpose of defending or protecting themselves and the civilians who were present at the residence and feared for their safety,” said the statement.

“This action followed repeated attempts to engage with Mr. Levi peacefully, and followed several applications of a taser to disarm him from the dangerous weapons (knives) he refused to yield.”

The prosecutions service said it made the decision not to proceed with criminal charges as the evidence presented does not establish a “reasonable prospect of conviction.”

“This decision does not diminish the tragedy of the event,” it said. “The loss of Rodney Levi is a pain shared by members of the Metepenagiag First Nation and residents of neighbouring communities that cared about him. We offer our sympathies to his loved ones and those who continue to feel his loss.”

A coroner’s inquest into Levi’s death is scheduled to begin in October. The presiding coroner and a jury will publicly hear evidence from witnesses to determine the facts surrounding the death.

The jury will have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances in the future.

RCMP Respond To Crown’s Decision

New Brunswick RCMP Assistant Commissioner Larry Tremblay offered a statement on the Crown’s decision not to charge two of its officers in Levi’s death.

Trembly described Levi’s death as a tragic loss of life with “deep repercussions” for his family, the wider community and RCMP employees in New Brunswick.

He added the RCMP respect the decision made by the Public Prosecutions Services and will not offer any further comment on the BEI investigation.

“There has been a lot of attention in the past year regarding interactions between police and marginalized groups. These are important opportunities to be introspective about our own origins, culture and current operations, as well as to be part of a greater shift towards a more inclusive and compassionate society for all,” Tremblay said.

He added that use of force is “never an action taken lightly.”

“Our members become police officers knowing they may have to take protective actions that sometimes include lethal outcomes. They undergo rigorous and continual training to ensure they have the tools to respond appropriately in difficult circumstances,” Tremblay said.

“When we have to make those decisions to take those actions, regardless of the outcome, we carry that for the rest of our lives. We live with public conjecture and speculation about how things could have been handled differently, which impact people’s trust in law enforcement, and our own mental health.”

Tremblay said the RCMP are committed to understanding how they could have done things differently to improve outcomes for everyone involved.