Eric Nothing, whose father Bruce Frogg was also killed in a police shooting last year, died in a police-involved firearms incident in Deer Lake First Nation on Tuesday.Graeme Roy/The Canadian Press
The girlfriend of a man shot and killed by Canada’s largest Indigenous police service in Northern Ontario says her partner couldn’t say no to assisting others.
Eric Nothing “was a good man, always helped when anyone needed it,” Roleine Meekis told The Globe and Mail on Wednesday.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit is investigating the fatal police-involved firearms incident that occurred Tuesday afternoon at the home Mr. Nothing and Ms. Meekis shared in the Deer Lake First Nation, a fly-in Indigenous community about 180 kilometres from Red Lake.
Ms. Meekis was home at the time and witnessed the incident. She said she is receiving support for the traumatic experience. She declined to elaborate on what happened.
A media release from Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS) says members from its Deer Lake detachment responded to a call for service and “an adult male was injured following an interaction with police officers.”
The SIU said in a news release Wednesday that police went to a residence with a warrant to arrest Mr. Nothing and that he fled from the house.
“There was an interaction, and one NAPS officer discharged his firearm at the man. Officers provided first aid and the man was taken to a nursing station where he was pronounced deceased.”
Deer Lake First Nation leadership announced to community members Tuesday that the 40-year-old father had been fatally shot.
Mr. Nothing’s uncle, Joshua Frogg, told The Globe and Mail that his nephew’s father, Bruce Frogg, was also shot and killed by police last year.
Bruce died from gunshot wounds after being shot at by provincial police during an incident at Anicinabe Park in Kenora last June.
The SIU recently completed its investigation into Bruce’s death and “found no reasonable grounds to believe an Ontario Provincial Police officer committed a criminal offence.”
Mr. Frogg said it’s difficult to comprehend that Mr. Nothing met the same fate as his father.
“We all feel the deep hurt, saddened, some are very angry and heartbroken,” he wrote in a message to The Globe.
He said he has no confidence or trust that the SIU will provide answers.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation, a political territorial group advocating for 49 First Nations in Northern Ontario where NAPS serves, issued a statement earlier this month rejecting the SIU’s findings in Mr. Frogg’s case.
“We believe the SIU’s investigation has raised more questions than answers, and that this process is severely flawed. We are working closely with the family and community to explore other avenues for justice.”
NAPS is the largest First Nations police service in Canada, serving 34 communities across Northern Ontario, many of them accessible by plane only.
In December, the service was legislated by the province to come under its police service act, leaving the highly criticized First Nations policing program behind.
That means the First Nations police service is also now subject to the province’s policing legislation, which includes notifying the SIU when there’s been a death, serious injury, alleged sexual assault or discharge of firearm involving law enforcement.
SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette told The Globe that this is the first firearm death case involving NAPS since it came under provincial legislation.
Deer Lake First Nation community members had just returned home recently from Mississauga after being evacuated for several weeks earlier this summer because of wildfires.