Posted:
Halifax Regional Police (HRP) has contacted the Nova Scotia Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) regarding an incident where a man in police custody was injured following his arrest.
On September 20, at 8:27 p.m., officers arrested 31-year-old Alexander Welch after an officer was stabbed at 2170 Barrington Street and charged him with attempted murder. During the arrest, officers used physical control and deployed a Conductive Energy Weapon (CEW) to gain control of the suspect. The suspect was handcuffed and transported to police headquarters where it was noted that he suffered a broken nose and other facial injuries while in police custody. The suspect was transported to hospital for treatment and HRP notified SiRT of the injuries sustained by the suspect. SiRT advised at the time that this incident did not meet the threshold for their investigations.
Following this incident, HRP conducted an internal review of the circumstances surrounding the custody of Mr. Welch as well as the injuries he sustained. As a result, HRP determined that a referral should be made to SiRT.
Halifax Regional Police contacted SIRT about this incident and they will be conducting an investigation into this matter. Any questions about their investigation should be directed to SIRT.