On July 29, 2022, NT RCMP were advised of a serious altercation which took place at the Day Shelter in Yellowknife on July 26, 2022. As a result of the altercation, one of the participants, a 32 year old male, was taken to hospital in Yellowknife in an unconscious state. He was later medevacked to a hospital in Edmonton, where he was eventually taken off life support and succumbed to his injuries.
The NT RCMP’s Major Crimes Unit conducted an investigation, which included reviewing the video recording of the altercation. The video showed that the deceased man was the aggressor in the incident. The male who caused the fatal injuries was arrested, interviewed and released by investigators without charges being laid.
After their investigation was complete, the results were forwarded to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) for their review. The review was recently concluded and determined that the suspect was acting in self-defence and his actions were reasonable and proportionate to the force being used against him. As such, the police investigation has been concluded with no charges being laid.
Sgt. Jason Hurley from the NT RCMP’s Major Crimes Unit said in a statement that “Police investigate to discover the facts of an incident, and then assess whether the facts merit criminal charges being laid. In a serious and tragic incident such as this, we often get an opinion from the Public Prosecution Service of Canada to determine if the legal threshold has been met for charges. In this case, the threshold was not met, as the suspect had a legitimate fear for his own wellbeing and acted proportionately to protect himself from that imminent threat to his safety.”
