2 officers under investigation in death of Ottawa man identified

The two Ottawa police officers under investigation after the death of an Ottawa man following an arrest have been identified as Const. Daniel Montsion and Const. Dave Weir.

• Witness describes fatal confrontation between Abdirahman Abdi and police
• Ottawa police union president calls racism speculation in fatal arrest 'inappropriate'

Abdirahman Abdi, a 37-year-old with mental health issues,was taken to hospital on Sunday after what witnesses described as a violent arrest. Hedied on Monday.

Ontario's police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, is handling the investigation into Abdi's death, which could take months. An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday.

The SIU said the investigation is focusing on two police officersand that it intends to interview five witness officers.

Multiple sources have confirmed to CBC News that the two officers under investigation are Weir, a patrol officer, and Montsion, who usually apprehends gang members as a member of the direct action response team (DART) but on Sunday was assisting on patrol.

Video showsofficers after arrest

Montsioncan be seen kneeling to the right of the bloodied and handcuffedAbdiin a video posted onYouTubeon Tuesday, two days after the arrest.Weir is the officer kneeling byAbdi'shead.

Abdirahman Abdi arrest reaction

8 years ago

Duration 1:51

Police kneel and stand by the bloodied and handcuffed Abdirahman Abdi as people inside an apartment building cry out. Warning, some people may find this video disturbing.

The one-minute 51-second video, taken from the lobby of 55HildaSt.,doesn't show the altercation, but instead showsMontsionand Weirkneeling byAbdi'sbody while three officers stand by the door to the building.

It's not clear who took the video or exactly when it was recorded. It appears to be afterAbdi'sarrest but before the arrival of paramedics.

Several people inside can be heard wailing and screaming.

A man's voice can be heard identifying himself as the superintendent of the building and saying to police, "This is the family. This is the family."

Another man, speaking in Somali, can also be heard saying "Take mom away, take her out of here. Take mom."

A video that had beenpreviously posted toYouTubeshows paramedics arriving and performing CPR onAbdi. Montsion can be seen in that video assisting paramedics.

Paramedics then took Abditothe hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

Abdiwas pronounced dead at 3:17 p.m. Monday.A neighbour speaking on Monday for the familysaid doctors had told themAbdiwas already dead when he arrived in hospital.

2 officers seen hittingAbdi

Eyewitnesses to Abdi'sarrest described it as a violent altercation.

Police had been called to a coffee shop in the city'sHintonburgneighbourhood at about 9:30 a.m. ET after reports someone was groping people.

One officer located and pursuedAbdito his apartment building at 55HildaSt.

RossMcGhieand his partner said they were returning home when they saw the first officer trying to preventAbdifrom entering his building.

McGhiesaid the officer used his baton to strikeAbdiin the legs, arms and upper body while shouting atAbdito comply.

A second officer arrived at the scene in a police cruiser, ran out of the car and jumped into the altercation, delivering whatMcGhiedescribed as "a number of very heavy blows to the head and face."

McGhieon Tuesday said the second officer was wearing a DART vest and, when shown a still from theYouTubevideo, identified him asMontsion.

'They wanted him dead'

ZeinabAbdallah, an elderly Somali woman who lives in the building, said she was leaving at the same timeAbdiand the first officer were running toward it.

Speaking in Somali, she told CBC'sIdilMussathatAbdicalled to her, "Sister, protect me from them.Zeinab, help me.Zeinab, help me."

"As I looked one side, I was shocked, since my looking to that direction coincided with the policeman hitting him with a stick, the very moment he held the door trying to get inside," she told CBC News.

• Listen to ZeinabAbdallah's account of the incident (in Somali)

"He was fleeing the policeman and was trying to go inside the building. Having received the blow, he turned back and grabbed the policeman, they grabbed each other, two strong men, the policeman tackled him and threw him to the ground, hitting him repeatedly.

"And there was this cut here and his blood run on the ground. Then he started beating him hard with the object he was carrying, and when he did so, I pleaded with him to stop the assault, informing him that the man was mentally ill.

"I pleaded with him, 'Please don't beat him, please, he can't listen, he don't care.' The other policeman joined him, they did whatever they wanted with him until he became incapacitated.

"I have never seen anything similar to the way they beat him with such malice, animosity and hostility. They simply didn't want him alive, they wanted him dead," she said.

The SIU is in possession of the building's securityvideo footage of the arrest, CBC has learned.

The head of the police union said police were responding to a "violentincident," and that they had to contain it.

"The officers were experiencing a male that was assaultive in behaviour," said Matt Skof."So they are required, they're bound to react to that, they have to react to that, they have to contain that."

Groupcalls for thorough investigation

The National Council of Canadian Muslims released a statement Tuesday calling for a thorough investigation of the arrest.

"The community we're hearing from here in Ottawa and across the country want answers. So it's really important that the SIU conducts the investigation thoroughly, transparently,"saidNCCMspokespersonAmiraElghawaby.

A public memorial forAbdiwill be held at Somerset Square Park, between Wellington Street West and Somerset Street West atSpadinaAvenue, on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.

A funeral istentativelyscheduled to take place at the Ottawa Mosque, though the day and time is still to be determined.

Translation of witness account

Here is the full translation of the account ofZeinabAbdallah, an elderly Somaliwoman who told CBC News she witnessed the arrest. Translation by AbdullahiBogorfrom Somali to English.

"The man, the young man, was running toward the building at the same time I was leaving it. He was carrying a black plastic object. He called out to me and said 'Sister, protect me from them.Zeinab, help me.Zeinab, help me.'

"And, when I looked, it was a policeman chasing him while he was running toward the building. He was trying to get into the building since he was being chased by them. I didn't know what happened. I know that this man has mental illness and was running toward the building he was running at that moment.

"As I looked one side, I was shocked, since my looking to that direction coincided with the policeman hitting him with a stick, the very moment he held the door trying to get inside. He was fleeing the policeman and was trying to go inside the building.

"Having received the blow, he turned back and grabbed the policeman, they grabbed each other, two strong men, the policeman tackled him and threw him to the ground hitting him repeatedly and there was this cut here and his blood run on the ground then he started beating him hard with the object he was carrying and when he did so, I pleaded with him to stop the assault informing him that the man was mentally ill.

"I pleaded with him 'please don't beat him, please, he can't listen, he don't care.'The other policeman joined him, they did whatever they wanted with him until he became incapacitated."

(voices from the background to which she answers)

"Auntie, in my entire life, I have never seen anything similar to the way they beat him with such malice, animosity and hostility. They simply didn't want him alive, they wanted him dead."

(voices from the background to which she answers)

"They hit him with their knees, the camera will show that. They beat him with everything. They kicked him. They did everything they wanted with him. They beat him. The strong man who not long ago was running, was taken in an ambulance barely alive."

(voices from the background to which she answers)

"When my son saw me, he got scared and urged me to leave the area but I told him I was going nowhere. He didn't know exactly what happened. If only my son brought his camera earlier. He brought it later on."