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Police Watchdog Confirms Death After RCMP Shooting in Lunenburg County

SIRT has opened an independent probe to determine whether cancelled alerts or poor rural cellphone reception affected public safety.

FILE - An Alert Ready emergency alert was sent at around 6 p.m. on July 8, 2026 for residents in Lunenburg and Queens counties -- asking them to lock their doors, and not to pick up hitchhikers.
Brian Meyers, who lives in Lunenburg County, was driving home from work when he came face-to-face with the subject of a series of emergency alerts by the Nova Scotia RCMP.

Overview

  • RCMP issued an Alert Ready message Wednesday evening telling residents between Highway 210 and Old Chelsea Road to lock their doors and later cancelled the alert when officers said they no longer believed there was a public-safety risk.
  • Less than 12 hours after the cancellation, RCMP returned to the Chelsea area on new reports Thursday morning and located a man who was shot by an officer during that response.
  • The Serious Incident Response Team confirmed Friday that the man was pronounced dead at the scene and that the RCMP said he had injuries consistent with a gunshot wound.
  • Local resident Brian Meyers said he came face-to-face with the armed man after the alert was cancelled and that poor cellphone reception prevented him from completing a 911 call until he had driven about a kilometre.
  • SIRT’s active independent investigation will examine the shooting, the decision to cancel the civil emergency alert, and how rural communications limits may have affected residents’ ability to report threats and get timely protection.