Family of Montreal man killed by police in 2017 reaches settlement with city

The family of a man shot dead by Montreal police has reached a settlement with the city in connection with a lawsuit they filed over his death, family lawyers said Thursday.

Pierre Coriolan died on June 27, 2017, when police shot him after they responded to a disturbance call at his home. Coriolan's two sisters sued the City of Montreal, and a trial was set to begin on Thursday.

Montreal law firm Arsenault Dufresne Wee said in a statement its clients were satisfied with the settlement and didn't wish to comment further. Terms of the settlement were not divulged.

A Quebec coroner's report into Coriolan's death released in February said officers who responded to the call acted with outdated methods and had not received the most up-to-date training on de-escalation tactics and on dealing with people in crisis.

Six police officers responded to a call regarding a man who was allegedly smashing things inside an apartment. Officers found Coriolan, 58, sitting on a sofa alone holding a screwdriver and a knife.

The coroner found that instead of opting for a defensive posture, two officers began yelling at Coriolan simultaneously, provoking what the coroner described as a "chain reaction." Police were not told ahead of time that Coriolan was alone in the apartment, which would have triggered a different response, the coroner said.

The police intervention lasted just over five minutes, with officers using a stun gun, batons and rubber bullets before opening fire three times.

A pathologist ruled Coriolan died of abdominal trauma from a gunshot.

In 2019, Quebec prosecutors concluded the officers who fired on Coriolan would not face charges, following an investigation by the province's police watchdog, the Bureau des enquetes independantes.

-  This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 12, 2022