Fatal northern Quebec police shooting followed drunk driving call, watchdog says

By The Canadian Press on November 5, 2024.

MONTREAL – The province’s police watchdog is providing some new details about a police shooting that left one man dead and a second seriously injured in a remote northern Quebec village.

The watchdog, known as the BEI, says Nunavik police received a 911 call for someone who was allegedly trying to drive while impaired at about 4:10 a.m. Monday in Salluit, an Inuit fly-in village about 1,850 kilometres north of Montreal.

A statement today from the watchdog says two officers arrived at the scene a few minutes after the call and had a physical altercation with the two men.

The BEI statement does not say whether either of the men was armed, but officers at first used an electric shock weapon and pepper spray in an unsuccessful attempt to subdue them.

An officer then opened fire and hit one of the men, the BEI says, and when the second man continued to fight, he was also shot by the officer.

Nunavik police say one man died while the second was transported by medevac to hospital, where the BEI says his condition is considered stable.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

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