Witness alleges Winnipeg police fatally shot unarmed man without warning

Carrie Blaydonreplays Dustin Hatcher's death over and over in her mind since he was shot by police in a south Winnipeg neighbourhood.

She cries constantly and still expects to hear her partner's voice at home, despite witnessing his death on Nov. 28.

"Why am I still here, and he's not? I was, like, inches away from him when he was shot," she told CBC News through tears on Monday.

She's demanding accountability after she alleges an officer opened fire on an unarmed man without warning.

"His smile lit up the room, his sense of humour," Blaydon said.

Hatcher, 39, was shot near Dalhousie Drive and Pembina Highway around 12:40 a.m., Manitoba's Independent Investigation Unit (IIU), which investigates serious incidents involving police officers in the province, said in a news release on Nov. 28.

First responders took him to Health Sciences Centre, where he died of his injuries.

Winnipeg police say the shooting happened after an officer was pinned by a vehicle that was attempting to flee a traffic stop.The officer, who was injured, went to hospital in stable condition, police said.

Blaydon, however, disputes the Winnipeg Police Service's account of events.

She said she and Hatcher were parking in a back lane stall near her home when they were approached by two officers. She alleges officers did not give them a reason when telling them to get out of their truck.

Blaydon who'd been driving a borrowed vehicle she said she later found out was stolen got out, while Hatcher moved into the driver's seat, she said.

Hatcher was facing charges at the time of his death, including failing to comply with conditions of his release and theft under $5,000, court records say. He'd been planning to turn himself in after the holidays, Blaydon said.

She tried to help Hatcher take off by holding back one of the officers on the driver's side, she said, and a second officer moved to the passenger side.

"'He's trying to flee. He's trying to flee,'" Blaydon said the officer near her shouted.

"If anybody was pinning anybody, it was my back pinning [the officer]," she said, her voice still hoarse from screaming that day.

Amid the commotion, Blaydon heard glass shatter and shots from the passenger side, before the truck drove into a fence a few metres away, she said.

Everything unfolded quickly, Blaydon said, crying.

"I ran to the car screaming."

Blaydon said she saw Hatcher hunched over behind the wheel, after which an officer Tased her twice.

"He was dead," Blaydon said. "I was begging and begging them to help him. They wouldn't help."

She last saw Hatcher after she was attended to by paramedics, being carried by the ankles and wrists by officers and dropped in the lane "like a wild animal being hunted down," Blaydon said.

"There's something going on," she said. "I just want justice.... Dustin did not deserve to die."

It's Winnipeg's first fatal officer-involved shooting of 2023, and the second in Manitoba this year; there were three in Manitoba last year. There have been sixofficer-involved shootings, including fatalities, in Manitoba so far this year, following nine in 2022.

Winnipeg police deferred comment to the IIU, which also didn't answerCBC News questionson Monday, as the case is under investigation.

'He was so sweet'

Family pictures, flowers and a teddy bear adorn the ground where the vehicle crashed.

Blaydon and friends held a vigil there on Friday. She said she goes there to sit with Hatcher.

He was a caring father of three, who loved hip-hop and reggae music, both Blaydon and a friend said.

"He was so sweet," said longtime friend Sarah Jacques, who was at the interview with Blaydon. "He helps you put your boots on."

He was born to Jamaican parents in Winnipeg, raised in the city and later struggled with addictions, which he funded in part through stealing, Jacques said.

Hatcher has faced dozens of charges and served time for offences including break and enter and theft over $5,000, dating back to 2002, court records say.

But Jacques is disappointed and in disbelief at the way he's being portrayed by police.

"He doesn't fight," she said. "They made Dustin look like he's a bad guy, and he really wasn't."

Both Blaydon and Jacques fear the IIU's investigation will absolve the officer who shot him.

"They need to be charged," Jacques said.

Bisma Noor, who lives nearby with her young family, awoke to a loud noise after midnight Nov. 28. Outside her window, she saw one car, a black unmarked police vehicle, she said.

"I can't see ... everything. It's not clear, but after like few seconds, I'm hearing gunshots, like two, and then I'm scared now. I close my door," Noor said.

"The big sound is around 12:30, and after, like, five to seven minutes, I hear ... two shots."

Blaydon said she blames herself for Hatcher's death.

"I got out of that vehicle, and I tried helping him get away," she said. "The car did not move until he was shot.

"Maybe he would still be alive."

Blaydon said she spoke with the IIU Wednesday morning.

Witness alleges Winnipeg police fatally shot unarmed man without warning

10 months ago

Duration 2:41

Carrie Blaydon is demanding accountability after she alleges an officer opened fire on her unarmed partner without warning. Dustin Hatcher was shot near Dalhousie Drive and Pembina Highway after midnight on Nov. 28. Winnipeg police say the shooting happened after an officer was pinned by a vehicle that was attempting to flee a traffic stop.