Nova Scotia’s police oversight body is investigating a shooting incident involving RCMP officers that led to the death of a man from the Sipekne’katik First Nation on Tuesday morning. The Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) confirmed that their probe is connected to an emergency alert issued about a man with a firearm driving on a rural highway in Hants County.
The Sipekne’katik RCMP received a call at 8:35 a.m. reporting a disturbance at a residence in the First Nation community. The man was allegedly armed and making threats before departing in a Honda Civic. Subsequently, an emergency alert was issued to Hants and Colchester counties regarding the armed man on the rural highway in Hants County around 9 a.m. prompting residents to seek shelter and secure their premises.
Local schools were put on hold and secure status as a precaution. SIRT disclosed that officers managed to stop the vehicle by deflating its tires with a spike belt. Following unsuccessful non-lethal attempts, officers fired multiple shots, and despite life-saving efforts by both officers and medics, the man was declared deceased at the scene.
Earlier reports from the RCMP suggested that the man had been apprehended.