Police were justified in fatally shooting a 59-year-old man during a mental health call last year, Manitoba’s police watchdog said in a report released Friday.
“It is my view that, in the full consideration of the circumstances of this tragic incident, the use of lethal force by the subject officers was authorized and justified by law. There are no reasonable grounds to support any charges against the subject officers,” Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba acting civilian director Bruce M. Sychuk said in the report.
Bradley Singer was fatally shot at his home at 259 Magnus Ave. shortly before 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 13. He barricaded himself inside the home, the IIU said in a news release, and the Winnipeg Police Service’s tactical support team went into the home.
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Bradley Singer, who suffered from mental health issues, was fatally shot in the second of two incidents involving police at his home last winter.
“Two officers discharged their service firearms, striking the male,” the IIU said.
The IIU had not previously stated exactly how many officers had fired their guns.
Singer was transported to Health Sciences Centre in critical condition, where he later died.
About two weeks before the fatal incident, heavily armed officers surrounded the North End home while Singer was in the grip of a mental health crisis. Gerry Singer said in April the situation was confusing and distressing for his brother, who was sought under a Mental Health Act order.
“This vulnerable, mentally ill man must have been extremely frightened when confronted by a group of heavily armed police officers in what is commonly known as SWAT team gear. Who knows what role that experience with the police tactical team played in his mind on Feb, 13, 2024, when he was shot dead by the police,” Martin Glazer, the lawyer for the Singer family, said at a news conference in April.
Singer was found not criminally responsible because of mental disorder in March 2002 on charges related to an illicit drug operation. He was found not criminally responsible for four counts of possessing property obtained by crime under $5,000 and one count of possessing property obtained by crime over $5,000, court records previously reviewed by the Free Press show.
Winnipeg police outside Singer’s home at 259 Magnus Ave. after the shooting.
Doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia, a mental disorder characterized by bouts of psychosis and a misperception of reality.
Singer and a relative were arrested in 1998 for running a cannabis grow operation and again in 2001 for a crack cocaine operation, the Free Press reported in 2002.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca