Wait for answers continues 1 year after 19-year-old fatally shot by Winnipeg police

Manitoba's Nigerian community is keeping the memory of an international student fatally shot by police close this week. 

But as the first anniversary of his death approaches, they are also eager for answers that have yet to come. 

"We are still very saddened by the occurrence almost a year ago … of the untimely and tragic death of Afolabi Opaso," said Vera Keyede, the president of Manitoba's Nigerian Association. 

Opaso, 19, was an international student from Nigeria who studied at the University of Manitoba. 

"The community, they're frustrated, I am frustrated personally with the fact we still don't have full closure," she said. "Even though he's been buried, we don't have closure." 

Opaso, 19, was shot dead by Winnipeg police officers responding to a check wellbeing call at an apartment building at 77 University Cres. around 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2023, the provincial Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) has said. 

The agency investigates all serious incidents involving police in Manitoba. 

Winnipeg police have said that the call involved a possibly armed man acting erratically. Then-police chief Danny Smyth told media a day after the shooting Opaso was armed with two knives when officers shot him.

The IIU tapped its Alberta-based counterpart this past January to take over the investigation of Opaso's death to avoid any perceived conflict of interest after a Manitoba Justice employee was found to be a "close relative" of a police officer involved in the shooting. 

The family's lawyer, Jean-René Dominique Kwilu, has said Opaso was experiencing a mental health episode the day he died.

Opaso's sister, Yemisi also told CBC in March that Opaso's roommates told her he was having a mental breakdown at the time and they called 911 so he could get medical help, making it clear he only posed a danger to himself. 

She also said Opaso's roommates told her he opened the door for police when they arrived at their apartment.

Kwilu said the past year has been "really tough" for the family. 

"For a lot of us this is the holiday season, it's very joyous and [you] gather with loved ones and family," he said. "Obviously this is just a painful reminder for them of what took place about a year ago."