FREDERICTON –
A lawyer for the family of a British Columbian indigenous woman who was fatally shot dead by police in Edmundston, NB, during a health check two years ago said the coroner’s investigation, which began Monday, offered a chance to her relatives to get long-awaited answers.
Chantel Moore, a 26-year-old member of the First Nation Tla-o-qui-aht in British Columbia, who recently moved to New Brunswick to be closer to her family, was killed on June 4, 2020.
Attorney TJ Burke says the Edmundston Police Department lacks the tools needed to de-escalate situations without the use of deadly force.
“I think Edmundston is suffering from a lack of technology,” he said in an interview last week. The city, he said, “focuses more on the purchase of carbine weapons than on weapons to use force from individual officers, such as Tasers.”
Investigators from Quebec Police Surveillance, the Bureau des enquetes independantes, concluded last year that the shooting came after a drunken Moore approached a police officer with a knife in his hand.
Patrick Wilbur, regional director of the New Brunswick Attorney’s Office, said in a report published last June that Moore’s ex-boyfriend called police at 2:06 a.m. to seek a health check as a result of his concerns over a series of reports. which he received received over a period of several hours.
The former friend, who lives in Quebec, told investigators that at one point the messages appeared to have been written by a third party and he contacted police out of concern for Moore’s safety.
According to Wilbur’s review of the investigation report, police arrived at Moore’s apartment at 2:32 a.m. and the officer knocked on the window and lit himself with a flashlight to show that he was in full police uniform. The report said Moore left the apartment and walked over to the officer holding the knife.
Prosecutors concluded that the officer fired at Moore to defend himself or herself, and that his actions were reasonable in the circumstances. They rejected all criminal charges.
However, during the investigation, the policeman said that he regretted that he did not give up the confrontation on the balcony in front of Moore’s apartment on the third floor. Wilbur wrote in his report that employees should always avoid getting stuck in a corner when answering a call.
Wilbur said that while the police officer had other deterrents, such as pepper spray and a stick, things were moving fast.
Burke said he believed police should also consider other approaches during health checks, such as using social workers or a mental health worker to help resolve stressful situations.
Last June, Burke said Moore’s family intended to sue Edmundston and the police officer who shot her. He says the case has already been finalized and will be filed soon.
The jury will be selected on Monday morning and five days have been set for the investigation.
Coroner Michael Johnston and the jury will hear evidence from witnesses to establish the facts of the death. The jury will then be able to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths in similar circumstances in the future.
While Burke will be present at the investigation, he will not be able to question or question witnesses directly. A family lawyer can ask questions, but New Brunswick law allows questions to be asked only by a crown prosecutor during a coroner’s investigation.
“Legislation is archaic and needs to change,” Burke said. “This essentially drowns out the victim in these kinds of issues.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 15, 2022.
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