No charges against Mounties after prisoner shot dead following escape, chase

A trio of Manitoba RCMP officers won't be charged in the fatal shooting of a prisoner who assaulted an officer, stole his gun and took off in an unmarked police vehicle, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba says.

Bill Saunders was shot dead near Lake Manitoba First Nation on Nov. 14, 2017, as he was being moved from Lundar to Winnipeg, about 110 kilometres southeast of the small Manitoba community.

The IIU didn't name Saunders in its report, but his mother, Irene Saunders, previously identified him as the man shot dead by the Mounties.

Saunders asked to use the bathroom during the drive and the officer pulled over to let him urinate, the IIU report says. He let Saunders out and "an altercation" ensued, during which Saunders grabbed the officer's expandable baton, using it to hit the officer in the head.

The officer told investigators that he shot Saunders in his left shoulder, but Saunders got control of the gun and took off in the white police van.

A chase ensued, ending when Saunders drove the police vehicle into a ditch.

While arresting Saunders, two RCMP officers shot him, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The IIU interviewed police and civilian witness, reviewed video from RCMP vehicles and spoke to an expert in the use of police force during its investigation.

The unit's report was forwarded to Manitoba Prosecution Services, which reviewed the file and did not recommend charges against any of the officers, saying there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.

​An inquest into the death has been launched under the Fatality Inquiries Act.

Bill's sister Rebecca Saunders said she and the family went over the report with the IIU on Thursday.

"Honestly, it's the outcome we expected but we were hoping for a better one," she said. "We still have questions, but until the inquest, they won't be answered."

'Shocking' situation

Saunders' family, especially his mother, struggled to wrap their heads around what had happened.

"It's hell," Irene Saunders said the day after her son was shot. "It was a shock."

Her son actually visited her at home after he escaped from police, she said.

Bill was her youngest son and had lived in Eriksdale, Man., about 20 kilometres from Lundar, with her and her husband.

Saunders had been arrested the day before he died, after he was accused of stealing from video lottery terminals in Lake Manitoba two days earlier.

When Bill returned home on the day he died, he was bleeding, his mom said.

"It was leaving drops," Irene Saunders said. "He said he had to go away."

He gathered some things and took off in a van, she said.

It wasn't the first time Bill Saunders had run-ins with the police. Irene Saunders said in March 2017, he was involved in a vehicle chase and evaded capture in an unregistered truck for two days.

Despite his legal problems, Irene Saunders says Bill was "a good kid."

"He did wrong choices and all, but … he always wanted to help others," she said. "Sometimes some bad choices, I guess, but he did try."