Brother of man shot by police offers forgiveness

The brother of a man shot and killed by Winnipeg police on the weekend believes officers were just doing their job.

Dallas Courchene told CBC News that he wants the officers involved in Saturday's incident to know there will be no allegations of racism or wrongdoing from his family.

'There's nothing but forgiveness.' Dallas Courchene, brother of shooting victim

"There's a lot of stuff that they [police] put up with and for them to have to go through having to shoot someone forced to shoot someone and then live with it the rest of their lives and have other people blame them for it? No, I want to tell them right now that me and my family, we have no animosity, no hatred," Courchene said.

"There's nothing but forgiveness."

Police shot and killedEric Daniels, 28,after he charged at them with a machete in the city's West End neighbourhood, police investigators said.

The incident happened just after 10 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Sargent Avenue and Arlington Street.

Police spokesperson Const. Jacqueline Chaput has said Daniels ignored repeated demands from officers to drop the weapon.

She did not say how many times police shot him.

Daniels was rushed to hospital in critical condition but died soon after.

Vigil held

A small group of friends and family, including Courchene, held a vigilSunday night at the intersection, where they burned sweetgrass and sang.

Courchene said he would like to meet with the officers and tell them firsthand how he feels.

"I want to say that, if I can meet you I would love to, and I would want [to] forgive you," he said. "I want to let you know that you don't have to have this on your conscience your whole life.

'I'll have to remember him as someone who struggled and wanted change so much but never reached it.' Dallas Courchene

"I don't care what other people say. They may not like what they're doing. They may cry racism. I'm not. You're doing your job."

Courchene said his brother struggled with alcohol and carried weapons for his own protection.

"Just [Saturday] I called my other brother, asking him to work with me to help Eric out. I bought a book on addictions and everything," Courchene said.

"But I waited just one day and now I'll never see my big brother ever again. I'll have to remember him as someone who struggled and wanted change so much but never reached it.

"Threedays ago he told me, "Bro, don't drink. That's my life; it's my thing. Take care of your family. I mean that. Take care of your family, my brother. I love you.'

"I still can't believe he's gone and words can't express what I'm going through right now."

Courchene's comments will go a long way toward helping the officers involved in the shooting cope with the trauma, said Mike Sutherland, president of the Winnipeg Police Association.

"I just can't undervalue the meaning that that will have for the officers," he said, adding no officer ever wants to be involved in a shooting.

Previous contact with police

Chaput said Daniels had "extensive" contact with police in the past but would not elaborate.

She said Daniels had been involved in an earlier altercation in the West End, leading to the fatal confrontation with police.

Two men had been arguing at a residence in the 600 block of Home Street and during the dispute, one man brandished a machete and threatened the other man, Chaput said.

The men didn't know each other, she added.

'I heard three shots. Then I looked out the window and I saw a couple cops, probably two or three cops, pointing their gun at this guy who was down at the street.' witness Felix Lampa

The dispute ended when the man with the machete walked away. There were no injuries in that incident, Chaput said.

Police were called to respond to the threat and located Daniels about a block away.

"It does appear that he was brandishing the machete and he was advancing towards the officers, resulting in the discharge of the firearm," she said.

Felix Lampa lives in an apartment justmetres from where the shooting happened and heard the gunshots.

"I heard three shots. Then I looked out the window and I saw a couple cops, probably two or three cops, pointing their gun at this guy who was down at the street," he said.

At least two rounds wentthrough a door of a nearby pizza restaurant and becamelodged in a cooler. No one in the store was hurt.

Homicide detectivesare leadingthe investigation and the officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave.

Investigation should be independent

The investigation into the incident should be done by an agency that is independent of the Winnipeg Police Service, said aManitoba aboriginal leader.

Morris Swan Shannacappo, grand chief of theSouthern Chiefs Organization (SCO),doesn't want the police service investigating itself.

The Manitoba government recently passed a law that will establish a special investigations unit to examine such incidents, but the unit is still a work in progress.

There will be an inquest into the death, because inquests are mandatory in Manitoba whenever someone dies as a result of police actions.