Mountie will not be charged after man shot
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WINNIPEG — An RCMP officer will not be charged after he shot a man he said was driving toward him, even though two reports suggest the vehicle had already passed him when he opened fire.
The driver, who has a lengthy history of auto-theft offences, was hit in a buttock — and suffered a perforated rectum — in the incident on the Trans-Canada Highway east of Portage la Prairie early on June 15, 2022.
The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba said in a report released Wednesday that investigators were given an RCMP forensic report on the incident and retained an expert to compose a ballistic report. The reports concluded the shots fired by the Mountie into the truck were at a 45-degree angle, suggesting the truck had already passed the officer, the IIU said.
David Frank Burling, who was 27 at the time, told the IIU there was no way the officer could have felt threatened by his truck because he had already driven past him when he fired. Burling said he was confident the angle of the bullet holes would confirm that.
No video from the officer’s vehicle was available because, “unfortunately,” its memory was full, the IIU report noted.
The Manitoba Prosecution Service took two years to decide there was “no reasonable likelihood of conviction” if the officer was charged.
The incident began with the theft of all-terrain vehicles.
The officer, who declined to be interviewed by the IIU, turned over his notes. He said he spotted the suspect truck in the area of the Trans-Canada and Provincial Road 240 and was trying to confirm the licence plate when the driver hit the brakes, nearly leading to a crash.
The officer said he fired his gun because he feared for his safety and that the truck barely missed his leg as the driver sped off.
Burling was arrested in Portage shortly after the shooting and charged with attempted murder and other offences. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in January 2024. With time served, he was given an additional 72 days. He was also given a five-year driving ban.
» Winnipeg Free Press