N.B. Crown Rules Out Charges in RCMP Shooting of Indigenous Man Rodney Levi

N.B. Crown Rules Out Charges in RCMP Shooting of Indigenous Man Rodney Levi
People walk to honour Rodney Levi in Red Bank, N.B., on June 19, 2020. New Brunswick's Public Prosecutions Service has concluded no charges will be filed against police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Rodney Levi last year. Stephen MacGillivray/The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
Updated:

FREDERICTON—New Brunswick’s Public Prosecutions Service has concluded no charges will be filed against police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Rodney Levi last year.

Levi, who was from the Metepenagiag First Nation, was shot dead by the RCMP on the evening of June 12 after police had responded to a complaint about a disturbance in a home in Sunny Corner, N.B.

The incident was investigated by Quebec’s police watchdog, the Bureau des Enquetes independantes, which submitted a report to New Brunswick prosecutors in December.

In a statement today, the prosecutions service says it is clear the officers on the scene believed Levi was using force against them, and he was shot to protect themselves and civilians who were present.

They say the decision does not diminish the tragedy of the event, and the death of Rodney Levi is a pain shared by members of the Metepenagiag First Nation and residents of neighbouring communities.

A coroner’s inquest will be held into the incident, although a date and location have not been set.