Inquests jury says death of man killed by Sask. RCMP in Montreal Lake Cree Nation was a homicide

A six-person coroner's inquest jury tasked with examining the death of Dillon McDonald, who was shot and killed by Saskatchewan RCMP in Montreal Lake Cree Nation in December 2021, decided that it was a homicide.

The finding came after the jury listened to testimony at a Saskatchewan Coroners Service inquest from March 3 to 7 at Court of King's Bench in Prince Albert.

Inquests like this are not criminal proceedings and do not result in criminal charges. Juries are asked to determine the facts of the death and make recommendations to help prevent similar incidents in the future.

On top of stating that the death was a homicide, the jury recommended that RCMP continue to work on hiring more First Nations people at all levels and continue providing training on First Nations cultural diversity and related topics.

RCMP responded to Montreal Lake Cree Nation on Dec. 14, 2021, after a report a man had chased someone out of a house with a gun. RCMP said at the time that about five hours later, the man came out of the house holding a gun and officers shot him.

Police said he was pronounced dead roughly an hour later, while en route to hospital.

A family friend of McDonald broadcast the incident live on social media. In the video, smoke was seen billowing out of the house as pops of what appear to be tear gas went off inside. Roughly 20 seconds later, after some swearing, three gunshots were heard.

The shooting happened before the creation of the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), the province's independent police watchdog organization, which is now responsible for investigating incidents where people are killed or injured in interactions with police.

After the shooting, the Saskatoon Police Service was tasked with investigating the incident. CBC asked Saskatoon police about the results of that investigation, but was given no comment.