Webequie issues statement on custody death

A Webequie First Nation man has been identified as the man who died during an interaction with police in Winnipeg earlier this month.

It occurred while he was being taken into custody by the Winnipeg Police Service on October 15th.

The community and its Chief, Cornelius Wabasse, issued a statement through the Matawa Tribal Council’s social media Thursday.

“Firstly, Webequie First Nation extends our sincerest condolences to the family of this member. Still in the early stages of coming to grips with this situation and determining the process of it being independently investigated, Webequie First Nation is unable to issue further comment.”

Webequie First Nation has issued this statement today regarding this situation https://t.co/KHCL4cgUju pic.twitter.com/EbNLlpdwuF

— Matawa ᒪᑕᐧᐊ (@MatawaFNM) October 19, 2023

In a release issued to its website, the Winnipeg Police Service states officers responded to an incident at approximately 10:50 p.m. to a report of a male in distress.

When they located the man he was taken into custody but went into medical distress and was taken to hospital in critical condition but later pronounced deceased.

The service states members of the Homicide Unit were notified of the incident.

Now the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, the equivalent of the Special Investigations Unit in Ontario, has been notified and assumed responsibility for the investigation.