(Trois-Rivières) The Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI) will investigate an intervention where police officers shot a man who allegedly brandished an axe in Trois-Rivières, Mauricie, on Sunday evening. The man later died.
According to the BEI, a call was made to 911 around 8 p.m. regarding a disorganized person with tools.
When officers from the Trois-Rivières police department arrived on the scene, approximately 10 minutes after the emergency call, the man was reportedly perched on a public monument, holding an object resembling an axe in his hands.
The BEI says officers tried unsuccessfully to speak to him, but the man spoke in a disjointed manner and was reportedly uncooperative.
The officers used pepper spray several times and then fired a taser several times to subdue the man, without success.
More than an hour after the confrontation began, the man approached the police with his axe in his hand and they opened fire. The man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The BEI’s mandate is to investigate when a person is injured or killed during a police operation in Quebec.