17 lawsuits by RCMP officers over 2014 Moncton shooting end

Most of the two dozen lawsuits against the federal government by current and former RCMP officers who responded to the 2014 shootings in Moncton have ended.

The separate civil cases involve officers who were part of the response to Justin Bourque's shooting rampage on June 4, 2014, that left three Mounties dead and two others injured.

Seventeen of the cases have now been "resolved" and have ended, according to Brian Murphy, thelawyer who represented the officers. Three others were previously discontinued.

Murphy told CBC on Thursday that he couldn't offer any further details about the outcomes of the cases. Four cases are ongoing, though the plaintiffs are now self-represented.

Constables Robert Nickerson, Shelly Mitchell, Martine Benoit and Mathieu Daigle filed the first four cases in 2019. They were among the first on the scene in the city's north end.

Their lawsuits are the only ones continuing, Murphy said.

They alleged the federal government failed to properly equip and train officers to respond to an active shooter.

On the night of the shooting, there were no carbine firearms at the Codiac Regional RCMP detachment. Officers responded with handguns and shotguns. Bourque was armed with rifles.

The RCMP was found guilty of workplace safety charges and fined $550,000 in 2017.

Justice Leslie Jackson found the RCMP violated a Canada Labour Code by failing to provide adequate use-of-force equipment and related user training to officers.

Daigle's statement of claim states the officer felt like he could have neutralized the shooter if he had been better equipped, something he testified about at the labour code trial.

The federal government had sought to have the lawsuits dismissed, arguing they were barred by the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act and the Pension Act.

A hearing had been scheduled for May on that motion, though the hearing has now been pushed to October for the remaining four cases.