No charges recommended for Officer who shot Norway House Cree National Teen: Police Watchdog

Manitoba’s police watchdog is not recommending any charges against the officer who shot a young boy outside a home on the Norway House Cree National last year.

On November 22, 2024, 17-year-old Elgyn Muskego was shot by RCMP in Norway House, about 460 kilometers north of Winnipeg, found high on pills and armed with a knife, “according to an Manitoba Independent Investigations Unit Report Published on Friday.

The RCMP notification was sent to the IIU, which investigates all serious police-involved incidents in the province, said police found Muskego in possession of a knife when they arrived at the scene when they arrived at the scene when they arrived at the scene.

Police said the young man did not drop the knife when told to and continued to walk towards them. That’s when one unit shot Muskego twice, the report said.

Officers performed CPR and called 911, police said, but the boy died at the hospital.

As part of its investigation, Police Watchdog interviewed three Witness managers and three citizen Witnesses, and reviewed police reports and notes, audio transmissions, medical interviews and 911 calls.

The officer who shot Muskego has been scheduled to be interviewed and provide investigators with a more detailed statement, said the report written by Bruce Sychuk, director of the Department of State’s Department of Investigation.

An autopsy report said Muskego died of multiple gunshot wounds. Trace amounts of cannabis and a high dose of acetaminophen – the generic name for painkillers such as lylenol – were found in his blood, the toxicology report said.

The officer who shot Muskego said in a statement that when he and his partner arrived, they saw Muskego outside the home as they rode along the highway to get groceries. The officer said Muskego confronted officers and held a knife in his right hand.

He drew his gun and pointed at the boy after hearing his partner yell, “Knife! Knife!” according to the report.

He pointed out that MusterGo didn’t keep up and moved to them, and it “turned from going to Sprint.”

The officer fired his gun twice when Muskego was about five feet away, according to the statement.

The incident lasted 10 seconds: Officer

Another officer who testified – one of the four officers who responded to the weapons – was told by investigators that every officer at the scene was pulled over before the shooting and “said the report.

A colleague of the officer who shot Muskego, who was interviewed two months after the shooting, said he “didn’t see who fired two shots, where the Muskeogo officer was.

The partner’s police officer told the investigators that the whole incident took about 10 seconds to do, suggesting that MuskeGo was heading towards them within seconds of their arrival.

According to the report, a closer look at the video footage shows the muskego reaching into his pocket or waist, putting his feet back down the ramp towards the police and speeding up, with a knife in his hand as the police car passes.

The actual shooting was outside the camera’s view, the report said.

Another local witness, who was interviewed about six weeks after the shooting, told investigators they were near the agency when they heard cars screeching before the gunshots shortly afterward, the investigative unit’s report said.

The Witness entered their home and through the window, saw officers giving CPR to a man on the ground.

The witness heard someone say “He’s gone,” before an ambulance arrived, the report said.

This report includes a photo of the Muskego Knife, showing it to be a 30-centimeter bread knife, with a 20-centimeter blade attached.

The police watchdog is not recommending charges against the officer, since after reviewing the evidence, Sychuk wrote that he is ‘of the opinion that the officer’s actions were reasonable, under the circumstances.’

The case is now considered complete and closed, the report said.