Rodney Levi: family given insight into investigation of deadly shooting

AUDIO: 7 members of Rodney Levis family were given a sneak peek at the evidence that has come out during the investigation into the RCMP shooting of Rodney Levi of Red Bank.

Rodney Levi was shot by an RCMP officer in Boom Road on June 12, 2020 after police responded to a residence with the understanding they were going to be dealing with a disturbed person.  An independent agency from Quebec issued a statement and said they would be investigating the incident.  The initial press release said that a man armed with a knife charged at police and they attempted to subdue him with tasers, and eventually shot him.

Public Prosecutions had a video meeting with 7 members of Rodny’s family today at the Miramichi Law Courts this afternoon.  The meeting was not open to the public, and the family was given some time to ask questions.  The report will eventually be made public, and the family was willing to share their reaction to the information they received afterwards.

Speaking on behalf of the Levi family was Rodney’s uncle Kenny.  He said a video that was taken from another room by a person who was present.  Kenny said it was troubling to watch the video, and wasn’t yet ready to say whether he thought there could have been anything done to avoid the deadly outcome.  He said it seemed like the positioning of the officer, who had his/her back against the wall, didn’t leave himself/herself an escape route leaving no option but deadly force.

Kenny said there were two officers involved in the incident.  One officer fired two shots after the tasers were repeatedly deployed, and the officer even verbalized that they didn’t want to use extreme measures unless required.  The identity of the officer was not revealed and there is no indication that it ever will be.  There is no indication that the video will be released either.

A peaceful demonstration was organized outside the courthouse with people saying they would continue to fight for Rodney.  Here is an audio clip of Kenny Levi’s comments about the information they were given: