There will be no criminal charges laid in the death of a 22-year-old man who was shot by RCMP in October of 2017.
The decision was made after an external, independent review into the death of Brydon Whitstone. The review was done by the Regina Police Service.
RCMP say an internal review has also been completed looking at the events leading up to Whitstone’s death. That review decides whether officers followed RCMP policy and procedure. The results of that investigation won’t be released until a coroner’s inquest into Whitstone’s death is complete.
Whitstone, who was from Online Lake, was shot by an RCMP officer following a short police pursuit in North Battleford.
RCMP said the incident began when police received a report that someone was shot at by people travelling in a car. RCMP say it tracked down a car that matched the reported description and began chasing it before the car rammed into a police cruiser. RCMP have said an officer shot Whitstone because of the way he was behaving.
Following the incident, a friend of Whitstone’s told CTV News that officers pursued the wrong car, Whitstone did not have a weapon and he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A coroner’s inquest into Whitstone’s death is scheduled for Dec. 3 -7 in North Battleford. Inquests are fact-finding exercises meant to determine the cause, manner and circumstances of deaths. The coroner's jury may also make recommendations to prevent similar deaths.
