Man shot dead by First Nations police force in Manitoba, family says

A grieving woman says her 23-year-old brother was shot dead by police on Long Plain First NationTuesday night.

"They went rushing in there. Everything happened too quick," Patricia Richard said her mom told her.

Richard identified her brother as Ben, who lived with their mother on the Manitoba reserve,about 100 kilometres west of Winnipeg.

"She's taking it pretty hard," Richard said about her mom, stopping to choke back tears.

"She said they didn't have to [shoot him]. He wasn't threatening anyone, he just snapped on himself."

Manitoba's police watchdogsaid a team of investigators was deployed toLong Plain Tuesday night examining what itcalled a "serious incident."

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba released a statement Wednesday afternoon announcing it had opened an investigation into the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old man in Long Plain.

Officers responded around 6 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a man armed with a gun, the investigation unit said.

"A confrontation took place between the man and police, resulting in one or more officers discharging their firearms and striking the man. He was pronounced deceased at the scene," the IIU's release said.

The Independent Investigation Unitinvestigates all seriousincidents involvingpolice officers in Manitoba, whether occurring on or off duty.

'I just think everything got to him,' sister says

Patricia Richard, who lives in Winnipeg,was contacted Tuesday evening by her mom, who was worried about Ben, saying he was shooting a gun in the house and had blown out all of the windows.

"I don't know what set him off,"said Richard, whocould hear Ben in the background "freaking out" as she spoke with her mom.

"We've had a lot of deaths in our family and lost one of our close cousins. I just think everything got to him."

Long Plain is the headquarters for theManitoba First Nations Police, which provides policing in six Indigenous communities in the province.

Richard is questioning why police did not set up some type of perimeter andtake time to speak to Ben. The officers acted too quickly, she said.

No one from the MFNPresponded to requests for an interview.

The chief of Long Plain deferred comment to the RCMP, who then deferred comment to theIIU.