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Brutality CanadaPolice Brutality O Canada |
Tuesday 1 May 2001
Craig Wong
CP
The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations is calling for an inquiry into the fatal shooting of an aboriginal man by the RCMP.
A witness to the shooting, which happened Friday, said Melvin Wayne Bigsky was pepper-sprayed, clubbed and electrically shocked before the officer shot him.
"Given the fact there are conflicting stories I will be asking for a formal review of the RCMP investigations file on this issue," vice-chief Lawrence Joseph said Monday.
"It's one of the ways the RCMP and police agencies can give us that spirit of co-operation and give us a sense that they are transparent and have nothing to hide."
Bigsky had a criminal record that included a manslaughter conviction for killing his cousin at a party by repeatedly running and jumping on his chest. He was also convicted of fraud for continuing to cash welfare cheques while he was serving time in the late 1980s for car theft.
In 1998, he was one of five men who escaped from prison in Drumheller. He was recaptured about a month later.
Roseann Bigsky told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix in an interview her husband died in her arms moments after trying to surrender to the RCMP officer who shot him.
"He had no right to shoot my husband. Melvin had his hands outside the window to give up," she said.
"The cop started shooting and then (Melvin) fell on me. I asked him to wake up, don't leave me and the children, but he wouldn't wake up."
Ivan Indian told the newspaper he saw an officer pepper-spray, club and electrically shock Bigsky before shooting him in the back of the head as he sat in his truck.
RCMP Cpl. Jerry Wilde said the officer did not carry a stun gun as suggested by the witness.
But Wilde confirmed the constable had used pepper spray and his baton. He also confirmed the truck was not moving when the fatal shots were fired.
The Justice Department is to decide if the shooting was justified and if charges should be laid.
"Once the investigation is completed by our major crimes unit, our report will be submitted to Saskatchewan Justice prosecutions for review," Wilde said.
Indian said he was travelling to Saskatoon with Bigsky and his wife Roseann.
The trio was just approaching the city at dusk when they were pulled over by the RCMP, Indian said. He and Bigsky got out to ask why they had been pulled over when the officer told them to get back in the truck.
When Bigsky refused, he was pepper-sprayed, Indian said. The officer put Indian in the back of his police cruiser. A struggle ensued between Bigsky and the officer during which the policeman clubbed and shocked the aboriginal man, Indian said.
The struggle escalated and eventually Bigsky got back into the truck and tried to escape by driving through the ditch. Instead, he rammed the cruiser where Indian was in custody.
Bigsky jumped out of the truck, said he was giving up, and got back in the vehicle. It was then that the officer fired several shots, Indian said.
The officer, who was responding to a complaint about a possible drunk driver, was taken off duty and is receiving counselling.
Wilde said the officer was alone when he pulled the truck over and backup officers did not arrive to help until after the shots were fired.
The highway encounter was the first of two fatal shootings by police on the weekend.
On Sunday, in Lethbridge, a city police officer shot and killed a knife-wielding man during an altercation at an apartment.
Allan Thomas Symons, 53, of Lethbridge died after being shot by an officer who responded to a 911 call warning of a man carrying a large knife.
Lethbridge Police Chief John LaFlamme confirmed Monday that a minute after Symons was shot, another officer arrived with a non-lethal electric stun gun called a Taser. But LaFlamme declined to speculate if the Taser could have defused the situation without bloodshed.
By Dan Zakreski, Senior Reporter
Saskatchewan News Network
April 30, 2001
An eyewitness says Melvin Wayne Bigsky was pepper-sprayed, clubbed and electrically shocked by RCMP before an officer shot him in the back of the head, killing the 33-year-old Nipawin farm worker while he sat in his half-ton truck.
Other members at the scene Friday then handcuffed the body on the side of the highway east of Saskatoon.
Ivan Indian says an estimated dozen or more RCMP and city police were on the scene at the time of the shooting. RCMP Sgt. Cory Lerat, however, says the officer who shot Bigsky was the only member on site and that backup did not arrive until after the shooting. Lerat could not explain the contradictory versions.
In an interview Sunday, Indian said he was travelling to Saskatoon with Bigsky and his wife Roseann, who had both moved to Nipawin less than a month ago to work on a farm.
They were coming to Saskatoon to visit Melvin's mother, Christina Bigsky. Indian said they were just approaching Saskatoon on Highway 41 at dusk when they were pulled over by the RCMP. Indian and Bigsky got out to ask why they had been pulled over "and he told us to get back in the truck."
When Melvin refused and asked again why they had been pulled over "he got pepper-sprayed in the face."
"I was behind Mel when it happened. The officer then said we were both under arrest and he put me in the car."
Bigsky, he said, was crawling around on his hands and knees, rubbing at his eyes with a jacket.
"The officer went over and whacked him with a club and then shocked him a couple of times with a stun gun," Indian said.
"Roseann came out of the truck and the officer shoved or hit her. Melvin said `Don't hit my old lady,' and they tussled on the ground."
The RCMP member broke free and ran back to his car. By that time, Indian said "there were a whole bunch of RCMP there."
Melvin got back into the truck and tried to escape by driving through the ditch. Instead, he rammed the cruiser where Indian was in custody.
"Then he got out, on his knees with his hands in the air . . . and he got whacked by the officer again. And they started fighting."
Indian estimated at this point there were at least a dozen officers on the scene, most with guns drawn, in a loose circle.
"Melvin got up and went back into the truck, saying he gave up. I heard four shots, and one shot hit him in the back of the head. He fell out of the truck, and they handcuffed him on the ground," Indian said.
Christina Bigsky said she learned midday Saturday that her son had been killed. She viewed his body Sunday at the St. Paul's Hospital morgue. He is married with two daughters and one son.
"We'll bury him at Kinistin reserve," she said.
She confirmed that Melvin had recently served a six-year prison sentence for killing his cousin, Clifford Moosewaypayo, in Saskatoon. She said that the men were drinking and wrestling and she described the death as accidental. "He was such a nice guy, always concerned about me," she said.
The shooting of two Native men by the RCMP in less than a week raises the issue of police training and the use of deadly force, says vice-chief Lawrence Joseph of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN).
A Native man in Ile-a-la-Crosse was shot and wounded Tuesday morning after a standoff with RCMP at a house in the small northern community. His injuries were not considered life threatening.
"There's a lot of questions from everyone. For instance, from a First Nations perspective, is there an official and separate response for First Nation offenders?" Joseph asked.
"Is there a practised, rehearsed response for that?"
RCMP spokesperson Heather Russell said that officers are instructed to use deadly force as a last resort. There is no separate policy for dealing with First Nations offenders, she said.
Joseph said there must be more work put into exploring and using alternatives to deadly force.
RCMP are not releasing any more details of the Bigsky incident, other than to say it is under investigation by the Saskatoon major crimes unit.
Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law.
See more articles at Melvyn Bigsky at Injusticebusters.com and at Native People under Fire at Injusticebusters.com.
Send your comments and stories of police brutality to: ruitsdawtah@Hotmail.com
This page created July 15, 2001
