Police say criminal charges will not be laid in the death of man who died following an incident at a special care facility in Lower Sackville, N.S.

Gordon Longphee, a resident of the Quest Regional Rehabilitation Centre, died from injuries sustained in an assault at the facility on May 11.

Police believe a 28-year-old male resident pushed 56-year-old Longphee, who fell as a result.

Longphee was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and passed away in hospital on May 17.

Police say his death was a result of the push and subsequent fall, as well as other pre-existing conditions.

“The findings concluded that there was a physical contact between the two residents,” says Nova Scotia Community Services Minister Joanne Bernard. “Both residents were in a hallway with staff and as they were passing, one pushed the other.”

Longphee’s death was ruled a homicide, but police say no charges will be laid.

“Charges are not being laid due to the inability to form intent, and what I mean by that is, in this case the 28-year-old man doesn’t have the mental capacity to understand what he was doing, so therefore, no intent,” explains Halifax RCMP Cpl. Scott MacRae.

The centre houses adults with behavioural challenges, development disabilities and chronic mental illness.

The man who pushed Longphee has been removed from the group home.

While the incident occurred on May 11, police were not notified until May 15. However, the executive director of the facility, Laura Arthurs, says the proper process of notification was followed.

Bernard says the province and the Quest Regional Rehabilitation Centre will find an independent agency to conduct a so-called best-practices review.

Bernard also says the RCMP’s decision not to lay charges was the appropriate one, and many parents of residents living at Quest have shown support for the facility, but others are pushing for the centre and others like it to close.

“We are looking at reducing our reliance on residential care,” says Bernard. “From my mandate onward there will be no new institutional beds being built in the province of Nova Scotia.”

Some are calling for a public inquiry into Longphee’s death, but Bernard says that won’t be necessary following the police investigation and external review.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Matt Woodman