Police officers who shot and killed black people in Repentigny, Que. in 2021 will not be charged
The local police officers who shot dead a black man in Repentigny, Que. will not be prosecuted, Quebec prosecutors said Thursday.
Jean René Junior Olivier, 37, was shot and killed on August 1, 2021 after police were called to his mother’s home in the community east of Montreal.
His mother, Marie-Mireille Bence, said she called 911 because her son was hallucinating and holding a knife. She worried about his safety.
Her son’s death shocked and outraged members of Repentigny’s black community, whose relationship with local police has been strained for years.
Bence has said multiple times that her son dropped the knife and that shots weren’t necessary. She also said she believes race played a role in the fatal shooting.
Quebec police watchdog, the Bureau of Independent Inquiries, investigated the shooting before turning evidence over to the Crown.
In a statement, the Crown said: “The analysis of the evidence does not indicate the commission of any crime by the officials of the Crown Police service of the Ville de Repentigny.”
The statement also includes an overview of the events leading up to the shooting.
For about 15 minutes, Olivier dropped the knife and picked it up multiple times while officers calmly tried to persuade him to desist, the statement said.
However, just before the shooting, the statement from Crown prosecutors said Olivier picked it up and charged at officers who were about five meters away.
The office also says video evidence was reviewed before making the decision not to charge the officers.
“The events were filmed by one of the paramedics who was on site and had a virtually unobstructed view,” the statement said.
“In this case, police intervention was legal and based on the duty of police officers to ensure the safety of the citizens under their protection, as well as their own, from the first moment until the shots were fired.”
The office said it met with Olivier’s family and informed them of the reasons behind his decision.
For more stories about Black Canadians’ experiences—from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community—see Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
