Man dead after police shooting involving RCMP officer in Newfoundland and Labrador

GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR, N.L. -

A man is dead and a town is reeling after a police shooting in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The province's police watchdog organization, the Serious Incident Response Team, said the shooting involved an RCMP officer and happened on Friday morning in the central Newfoundland town of Grand-Falls Windsor.

In an email, a SIRT-NL spokesperson said the victim was male but no other information could be provided about him, about the officer involved or about the shooting.

Grand Falls-Windsor Mayor Barry Manuel said he's lived in the town for 50 years and this is the second time anyone's been killed there in his memory.

"Our hearts are with the deceased and those involved in the incident, and their families," he said in a phone interview. "We hope that we never see this again."

The shooting happened on a quiet residential street in the town of about 12,000 people. "It's a street that I travel every day, because it's in between my house and the town hall," Manuel said. He couldn't provide any details about what happened, but he said there was no threat to the residents of the street or to anyone else in the town.

SIRT-NL is a civilian-led oversight agency that conducts its own investigations into serious incidents involving the actions of police officers in the province, including sexual offences, injury and death.

A news release from Mike King, the agency's director, said the agency is investigating the shooting and will release more information when the probe is complete.

The RCMP would not comment on the incident.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2021.