The man who was shot dead following a standoff with police last September was wielding a hatchet, according to the Independent Investigations Office report released Wednesday that cleared RCMP of criminal wrongdoing.
Greg Matters, 40, died during the evening of Sept. 10, 2012 after he was shot twice in the chest. Just seconds before, another ERT member had tried to stop Matters with a stun gun but that did not work.
Matters continued to move towards the officer with the stun gun. A nearby officer told investigators he was left with no option.
"I switched off the safety of my rifle, aimed at Matters' centre of mass and fired two rounds," the officer is quoted as saying in the report.
A police dog and an officer carrying a "bean bag" shotgun were also on the scene. But because Matters was carrying a hatchet, the dog was not released and the officer carrying the shotgun did not have a clear line of sight when he saw Matters raise the weapon.
Matters was shot at 7:15 p.m., according to a chronology of events in the report.
Roughly 20 minutes before, Matters appeared ready to give himself up. He was seen out of the cabin, where he had holed up on the family's Pinko Road property, and was making his way down the driveway.
But Matters, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, apparently brought on during his time in Bosnia as a member of the Canadian military, retreated back towards the house when a police helicopter flew overhead and "freaked him out."
The emergency response team decided to close in and saw Matters on a cell phone as he skirted one of a series of sheds and a cabin. Matters then proceeded back out, apparently upset about a police decision to break a lock on a gate .
It had all begun the day before, according to the report , when at about 3 a.m. on Sept. 9, 2012, an off duty RCMP officer attended a vehicle collision outside his Pineview area home and found Matters and his brother, whose name was not provided, in a quarrel.
Mattters was alleging the brother had trespassed on his property and was doing donuts on his driveway while his brother said Matters chased his vehicle down the road, then forced it into a ditch and then punched him in the face.
Over the next couple hours Matters repeatedly called 911 to get updates and give police more information on where his brother could be located and warn that his brother may have access to firearms. He also claimed his brother had violated a restraining order.
RCMP decided to arrest Matters after he threatened to shoot his brother and it was found the restraining order was actually against Matters. The brother had told police he had gone to visit his mother, who lived with Matters, but left when he found her not at home.
Police had tried to convince Matters to come to the detachment and provide a statement but when that did not work four officers went to his home with a plan to coax him out. However, that failed too although Matters' mother later agreed to have him surrender to police the next morning.
But Matters did not comply and by shortly before 2 p.m. on Sept. 10, 2012, he was seen making his way to a series of sheds and a cabin on an adjacent property also owned by the family.
Concerned about Matters' threats against his brother, potential trespassers and police, RCMP remained intent on apprehending him. At about 4:15 p.m., the emergency response team was assembled and a command post was set up on the property.
RCMP had also tried throughout the afternoon to reach Matters' psychiatrist, Dr. Greg Passey, and by about 6:45 were successful. Passey told police Matters "had a complicated history and that when 'badly triggered,' he would be capable of acting in an aggressive manner.
Passey advised police to tell Matters they were aware of his issues with his brother and that they needed to hear his side of the story. He also said Matters "had good experiences with police when they were willing to listen."
At 6:53 p.m., command post told the emergency response team that Matters wanted to surrender.
"Events thereafter took place quickly," according to the report.
