Family of South Sudanese man shot by officers upset with Galgary police statement following meeting with CPS brass

The family of a man shot dead by police officers two weeks ago says they were left angered by a meeting with Calgary police brass and a subsequent statement from the service.

Latjor Tuel was shot and killed by Calgary police on Feb. 26 after he allegedly attacked a police service dog while officers attempted to apprehend him near a bus stop on 17th Avenue S.E. in Forest Lawn. Video of the incident shows police officers firing four shots as Tuel is struggling with the dog. Tuel later died from his wounds.

The man’s family and loved ones say he had been struggling with mental health issues. He came to Calgary over two decades ago from South Sudan, where he was forced to be a child soldier.

Earlier this week, police said executives of the department, including Chief Mark Neufeld, had met with Tuel’s family and leaders of the local South Sudanese community. The statement, posted to social media, said the service recognizes the tragedy and expressed sympathies and condolences to Tuel’s family. The statement said participants acknowledged officers involved were also impacted greatly.

The statement says Tuel’s death represents a setback on efforts to build a relationship between the police and the community. The service went on to say participants of the meetings agreed to work on moving forward.

However, members of the South Sudanese community, including Tuel’s daughter, say the statement plays down the hurt caused by Tuel’s death.

“I myself didn’t leave the meeting very happy. We did talk and I was happy that there was open dialogue. I didn’t get the answers that I wanted, but I’m not going to stop asking the questions,” said Latjor.

Latjor said she asked a number of questions regarding police actions police brass declined to answer, referring to an ongoing investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team. She said she was also concerned with Neufeld’s reluctance to admit race played a part in the police response.

She said that her family left the meeting to attend the funeral home and they were unaware there was going to be a second part to the meeting with leaders of the Sudanese community.

“Everybody close to my father would like to acknowledge that we do not approve of anything that happened after we left,” said Latjor. “When we read the statement, we were angered — I’m not gonna lie to you.

“During the point of the meeting that my family was present, at no point did we acknowledge the fact that we’re grieving the same pain as the police officers that took my father’s life. At no point did any of the family members come to some sort of terms that we’re going to be moving forward.”

Khor Top, president of the local South Sudanese community association, said there is still a lot of pain in the community and said it is too early to begin moving forward as they await the results of the ASIRT investigation into the police officers’ use of force.

“The decision (on next steps) from the community leadership and the family will be made later based on what the outcome of the investigation is going to be based on,” said Top.

He added the community is worried the police statement may minimize the grieving that is continuing to take place in the community.

Calgary police declined to comment on Saturday.

Latjor said since the meeting, her family has been focused on burial arrangements for her father. She said they would like to hold a service in Calgary before laying her father to rest in his home country.