Winnipeg police officers won't be charged after shooting man armed with knife

The provincial police watchdog says two Winnipeg officers won't face charges after shooting a man with a pistol and a Taser last year.

On Dec. 11, 2017, police responded to a 311 call about a dead body at an apartment on Charles Street, between Church Avenue and Machray Avenue.

When officers arrived, a 25-year-old man opened the door with a knife in his pants pocket,a statement from the Independent Investigation Unit says.

Officers told the man multiple times to drop the knife, but he refused and instead pulled it out of his pocket. One of the officers shot the man with a Taser, while the other fired his gun, shooting the man in the abdomen and ear.

The man was taken to hospital in critical condition, but survived. He told investigators that he didn't remember anything about his interaction with police because he was heavily intoxicated.

There was no body in the apartment.

Investigators talked to four police officers and two witnesses who didn't see the incident but heard it. Their statements were consistent, and all said the officers told the man multiple times to drop the knife, the IIU said.

"The likelihood that the man was capable of using lethal force on any of the officers was real and substantial. The police did not create this lethal force interaction. This was solely the choice of the affected person," said IIU civilian director Zane Tessler.

The man still faces charges related to the incident, the IIU said.