At least nine people were killed in Canadian police actions in June 2024. This brings the total number of people killed in police actions to at least 47 so far this year. These deaths include people who were directly killed by police, as in police shootings, or died during police deployments or in police custody.

At least seven people were killed in Canadian police actions in May, 11 people were killed in April, at least 11 people killed in March, five people killed in February, and at least four people killed in January 2024. There were at least 97 police-involved deaths in Canada in 2023, while in 2022, there were at least 117 police-involved deaths.

The details below are based on police reports, reports from oversight agencies, and in some cases information from families. As always, because there are no formal, systemic mechanisms for documenting and reporting police killings publicly in Canada, all numbers presented for police-involved deaths represent an undercount. In addition to the known cases, there are cases of police-involved deaths that have no reporting. 

In June, at least six people were shot and killed by police. Two people died in custody. One person was killed in a police boat collision. British Columbia RCMP killed two people as did the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

Two of the victims who have been identified publicly were Indigenous men. Drake Dillon (27), a Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation man was shot and killed by Saskatoon police on June 20. Bruce Frogg (55), a Wawakapewin First Nation man, was shot and killed by OPP in Anicinabe Park, Kenora, on June 25.

 

 

June 1. BC RCMP. Shooting

RCMP shot and killed a man in Mackenzie, British Columbia, on June 1. The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of BC reports that at around 2:00 PM, police responded to a call regarding a man at a bank in the 400 block of Mackenzie Boulevard, where the Mackenzie Centre Mall is located. The man was arrested but police allege that there was some type of interaction between the man and police in the nearby parking lot, and police fired their weapons. The man was transported to hospital but was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

It has since been reported that the man was arrested for trying to cash a fraudulent cheque. The nature of the alleged “interaction” has also not been explained, although police claim the man had a weapon. None of the police claims have been confirmed publicly.

 

June 3. Toronto Police Service. Shooting

A Toronto Police Service (TPS) officer fatally shot a man in Scarborough on the afternoon of June 3. Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is investigating. They report that at about 2:50 PM, 911 calls were made about a man on Ellesmere Road, allegedly threatening motorists. Officers responded and located a man in front of a medical building at Ellesmere Road and Principal Road. Police claim the man had a hammer.

One officer discharged a conducted energy weapon (taser), and another officer shot the man. The victim was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The SIU has assigned seven investigators and two forensic investigators to examine the killing.

 

June 5. Manitoba RCMP. Shooting

Police shot and killed a man in the town of Niverville, Manitoba, about 20 kilometers south of Winnipeg, in the early morning of June 5. It is reported that the killing happened around 3 AM, in the area of Drovers Run, a business strip that runs along Highway 311 through the town. Both Manitoba RCMP and Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) officers were present on scene in an area around a Shell gas station and Tim Hortons doughnut shop at the corner of Drovers Run and Krahn Road. It is also reported that another man fled the scene, while a woman was taken into police custody.

Winnipeg police were present at a second scene southeast of Niverville at the corner of Highway 59 and Highway 305. A Winnipeg police cruiser was parked there reportedly with part of its front end smashed in and around a dozen holes in its windshield. RCMP say the two scenes are connected. RCMP were also present in Otterburne, almost 20 minutes south of Niverville, near Providence University College and Theological Seminary.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU) reports that police Air1 tracked the vehicle to Otterburne near the postsecondary institution, where police claim that at around 1:50 AM, the vehicle rammed a WPS vehicle. Officers discharged their firearms at the vehicle, which fled the scene. The vehicle was tracked to Drovers Run in Niverville, where officers located a man with a gunshot wound. The man was pronounced dead on-site.

 

June 6. Sûreté du Québec. Custody

A person in crisis died after being arrested by Sûreté du Québec officers in Victoriaville, Quebec, on June 6. The Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI) reports that three calls were made to 911 between 5:57 PM and 6:05 PM in connection with a person in crisis in a Victoriaville business.

After the third call, the individual in crisis was allegedly located by the police inside the Ultramar convenience store on the corner of Notre-Dame and De Bigarré. Police handcuffed the person who lost consciousness at some point afterwards. Paramedics were called and the person was transported to hospital where they were pronounced dead.

 

June 7. Ontario Provincial Police. Boat Collision

Ontario’s SIU is investigating the killing of a 49-year-old woman in a collision with an OPP boat on Nepewassi Lake early in the morning of June 7, 2024.

According to the SIU, at approximately 4:30 AM, officers with the Nipissing West detachment were investigating a domestic disturbance in relation to a call from a residence only accessible via watercraft on Nepewassi Lake. While en route to the residence, the OPP boat collided with another boat.

The woman operator of the other boat was seriously injured and taken to hospital in Sudbury. She was pronounced dead later in the day. No one aboard the OPP boat was seriously injured.

The SIU have assigned three investigators and one forensic investigator to examine the case. One subject official and one witness official have been designated at this time.

 

June 20. Drake Dillon. Saskatoon Police Service. Shooting

Drake Dillon (27) from the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation was fatally shot by Saskatoon police on June 20. Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation is about 565 kilometers northwest of Regina.

Saskatchewan’s Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) is investigating the killing. They report that at approximately 10:35 AM, Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) received a call regarding a man who had fired a single shot from a shotgun in front of the caller near the intersection of 20th St. West and Avenue U South.

The caller reportedly remained on the line with SPS and gave updates on the location of the man and the group he was with. At around 10:42 AM, the caller ended the call, and approximately one minute later, two members of the SPS tactical support unit (TSU) engaged a group allegedly resembling the caller’s description near the intersection of 20th St. West and Avenue S South.

Shortly after the arrival of TSU officers, an unspecified “confrontation” allegedly occurred involving two SPS officers, with two officers firing their service pistols, striking the man and killing him.

None of the police claims have been confirmed publicly.

 

June 20-21. BC RCMP. Custody

The IIO of British Columbia has confirmed that a man who was arrested by RCMP officers near the 7-Eleven in Dawson Creek on June 20 was pronounced dead on June 21. According to the IIO, police responded to a report of several people with weapons near the intersection of 8 Street and 104 Avenue. Three people were reportedly arrested without incident, while a fourth person was located nearby at a convenience store near the intersection of 8 Street and 105 Avenue. Following arrest, the man was taken to a hospital for treatment, where he died the next day.

 

June 25. Bruce Frogg. OPP. Shooting

Wawakapewin First Nation has reported that Bruce Frogg (55) was shot and killed by OPP in Anicinabe Park, Kenora, on June 25. Very few details have been released. In an early statement, the OPP said that they were responding to a fire at a convenience store in the park and one person “suffered injuries and was transported to hospital by Emergency Medical Services.” 

The First Nation said in a statement that “Bruce can be remembered by his teachings and stories about the land. He was an avid outdoorsman harvesting from its bounty and sharing with family and community members.” It has also been reported that Mr. Frogg lived at the RV park in Anicinabe Park and was deeply committed to the land and territory.

Two separate witnesses reported that they were at the park and heard three gunshots fired. One was watching at the fire scene, the other was driving past the scene. A spokesperson with the general store said no employees were reported injured.

 

June 29. Edmonton Police Service. Shooting

Edmonton police shot and killed a 28-year-old man in the city’s Fraser neighbourhood on the evening of June 29. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating.

It is reported that at approximately 9:24 PM, Edmonton Police Service (EPS) were called to the scene of a single vehicle rollover crash near Anthony Henday Drive and 153 Avenue. Witnesses reportedly told police a man exited the vehicle and fled on foot toward the Fraser neighbourhood in northeast Edmonton.

Police claim some type of unspecified “confrontation” occurred and an officer fired a service pistol, striking the man. He was reportedly treated on scene by paramedics and taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. He later died there.

None of the police claims have been confirmed publicly.

Jeff Shantz is a long-time anti-authoritarian organizer, researcher, and writer who lives and works on Kwantlen, Katzie, and Semiahmoo territories (Surrey, British Columbia).

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