The family of Brydon Whitstone is considering civil action against the RCMP officer who shot and killed their son.
RCMP Constable Jerry Abbott shot two bullets into the chest of the 22-year-old Onion Lake Cree Nation man in North Battleford on Oct. 21, 2017.
Police had mistaken Whitstone for a suspect involved in a drive by shooting earlier in the evening.
Saskatchewan’s ministry of justice has already announced it will not be pressing any charges in the shooting.
However, at a press conference Tuesday morning, Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Vice-Chief Dutch Lerat says Whitstone’s parents, Dorothy and Albert, are examining what other options may be available to them.
“The family is requesting a new investigation take place and are contemplating civil action going forward against the officer involved,” he says.
The Whitstone family and FSIN are also calling for the investigation to be reopened and conducted by an independent non-police body, like the Special Investigations Unit in Ontario.
The Regina Police Service investigated the case and found no police wrongdoing.
Lerat says the current situation of the RCMP being investigated by another police organization has to change if such investigations are to be seen as credible.
“We cannot have the police continuing to investigate themselves and clear themselves of any wrongdoings in these types of incidents as what has happened with Brydon Whitstone.”
Whitstone and the white Buick LeSabre he was driving were involved in a short high speed pursuit with police on the night in question.
After more than one collision with RCMP vehicles, police cornered the badly damaged LeSabre at the intersection of 100th Street and 15th Avenue in front of the Academy of Learning Career College in North Battleford.
Approaching the car, weapon drawn, Abbott says he thought Whitstone was reaching into his pants for a gun when he shot him.
Last week, the coroner’s inquest into Whitstone’s death wrapped up in Battleford with the jury making one recommendation: “that police use a taser gun or other intervention to immobilize or stun the suspect first prior to the use of a gun.”
The jury also found the manner in which Whitstone died was indeterminate meaning they could not decide whether it was a homicide or suicide.
(PHOTO: Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Vice-Chief Dutch Lerat (left) and Whitstone family lawyer Stephanie Lavallee at a press conference in Saskatoon on Dec. 11)