New Brunswick RCMP dispute 'wellness check' description in Elsipogtog shooting
CBC
New Brunswick RCMP are disputing that a call resulting in the shooting death of a 34-year-old Elsipogtog First Nation man was a "wellness check."
Steve (Iggy) Dedam was shot by an RCMP officer Sept. 8 in the community north of Moncton.
Dedam's family have told media that police were called for a wellness check, a characterization the agency investigating the shooting had agreed with Thursday.
But it's a characterization the RCMP say, without offering further explanation, is wrong.
Assistant Commissioner DeAnna Hill, the New Brunswick RCMP's commanding officer, issued a statement Thursday "to clarify that information circulating that this call was a wellness check is inaccurate."
The RCMP said on Friday they wouldn't answer questions about why that description is inaccurate, how the Mounties define a wellness check, or how a wellness check differs from the call received Sunday that Hill described as being about "a suicidal male armed with a weapon."
"Out of respect for the integrity of the independent review, the NB RCMP will not provide any additional comments or explanations related to the ongoing investigation," Cpl. Hans Ouellette, a spokesperson for the force, said in an email.
On Monday, RCMP directed various questions to the Serious Incident Response Team, which is investigating whether the officer's actions were a crime.
Erin Nauss, the agency's director, was asked Thursday whether the initial call could be described as a wellness check.
"That's what we understand from the information that we've received as well, is that the RCMP were responding to what they call a wellness check, yes," Nauss said.
On Friday, Nauss said she now knows RCMP do not consider it a wellness check.
"I can't speak to RCMP policy and terminology, but I do understand from the RCMP, and their statement as well, that's not what they call a wellness check," Nauss said.
Wellness checks generally refer to when police are called by someone with concerns about a person. It's unclear who called the police about Dedam.
Statements issued by SIRT and the RCMP since Sunday have varied in the details given, such as whether Dedam had more than one weapon.
