Woman dies after being shot by RCMP officer in Eastern Passage: police watchdog

A woman has died after being shot by an RCMP officer who was responding to an assault call in Eastern Passage, N.S., according to the province’s independent police watchdog.

RCMP were called just before 2 p.m. Tuesday to a home in the community about 15 kilometres southeast of downtown Halifax.

According to the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT), which investigates all serious matters involving police, officers arrived at the scene Tuesday to find “an adult female … in possession of a knife.”

“The female did not comply with officer’s commands to drop the knife. Officers discharged a conducted energy weapon (CEW/Taser),” a release from SiRT says.

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SiRT says its preliminary investigation suggests that the woman “continued to approach with a knife” and an officer fired a weapon.

“She was pronounced deceased soon after,” SiRT says.

SiRT, which is led by an independent civilian director, is now investigating the shooting. The director has the authority to determine if charges should be laid once the investigation is complete.

The team is responsible for investigating all matters involving death, serious injury, sexual assault, intimate partner violence or other public interest matters that involve a police officer.