Lawsuits by Mounties over 2014 Moncton shootings quietly end
Four lawsuits that alleged the RCMP failed to properly equip and train its officers ahead of the 2014 shootings in Moncton have ended.
Constables Robert Nickerson, Shelly Mitchell, Martine Benoit and Mathieu Daigle filed lawsuits in 2019 against the federal government.
Court records show the cases were discontinued in February and March with the consent of both sides.
The records don't say if the discontinuance was the result of a settlement.
The cases were the last of about two dozen filed by officers involved in the response to a lone gunman who shot and killed three Mounties and wounded two others on June 4, 2014.
Last year, CBC reported that 17 of the cases had ended.
Neither the federal government or the RCMP would directly comment on the outcome of the cases.
"We can confirm all files related to this have been discontinued," RCMP Sgt. Kim Chamberland said in an email Friday.
"We cannot provide any more information at this time."
The four cases that ended most recently said the officers were among the first on the scene in the city's north end on the evening of the shootings.
The cases alleged the federal government failed to properly equip and train officers to respond to an active shooter, which led to the officers suffering serious psychological trauma.
On the night of the shooting, there were no carbine firearms at the Codiac Regional RCMP detachment.
Officers responded with handguns and shotguns. Gunman Justin Bourque was armed with rifles.
The federal government had previously asked the court to dismiss the cases, arguing the cases were barred under the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act and the Pension Act.
The RCMP was found guilty of workplace safety charges and fined $550,000 in 2017.
Justice Leslie Jackson found the RCMP violated a Canada Labour Code by failing to provide adequate use-of-force equipment and related user training to officers.
Daigle's statement of claim states the officer felt like he could have neutralized the shooter if he had been better equipped, something he testified about at the labour code trial.
