Shooting of Chantel Moore

On June 4, 2020, Chantel Moore, an Indigenous Canadian woman, was shot and killed by Edmundston, New Brunswick police, who were called to perform a wellness check on her.[1] Moore's death drew national attention and outrage.[2]

Moore was a member of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation[3] and had recently moved to New Brunswick, with her five-year old daughter, to be closer to her mother.[4] The wellness check was asked for by Moore's boyfriend in Toronto, who was worried Moore was being harassed.[5] Police alleged that Moore had a knife and "threatened an officer", who then fired five times, killing Moore.[6] However, investigators have not released details of the nature of the alleged threat and Edmundston police officers do not wear body cameras.[7][6] The officer did not attempt to use non-lethal force, a decision that was questioned by Moore's family, who raised concerns about the officer firing five times to stop a woman of small stature alleged to be armed with a knife.[7][8] Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller commented "I don't understand how someone dies during a wellness check."[6][9]

An investigation was initiated into the incident by Quebec's police investigation agency; however, Indigenous leaders have called for an independent public investigation into her death.[10][11] The killing occurred just over a week after the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, an Indigenous-black woman, and caused scrutiny to be raised over Canadian police's capability to de-escalate situations involving mental heath crisis.[12][13] Indigenous leaders, Moore's grandmother, and Minister Miller linked the killing to systemic racism of Indigenous people by Canadian police.[14] In the aftermath of the killing, the chiefs of a coalition of Maliseet First Nations called for an independent probe of the New Brunswick justice system to address systemic discrimination against Indigenous people.[11] Rallies, protests, and healing walks were held across Canada to call for justice for Moore.[15][16] Eight days after the shooting of Moore, a second Indigenous person, Rodney Levi, was killed by police in New Brunswick.[17][18] Both deaths led to Premier Blaine Higgs deciding not to proceed with proposed legislation to increase the emergency powers of the police.[18]