No charges against police involved in fatal 2025 Inukjuak shooting

Quebec’s Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions will not charge Nunavik police officers who were involved in the fatal shooting of a man in Inukjuak last summer.

The decision was made following a review of the case by the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, the province’s police watchdog, according to a release from the director’s office issued Thursday.

On July 17, 2025, at around 8:18 p.m., police responded to a call about a hostage situation at a residence.

Upon entering the unit, officers encountered an armed man who rushed at one officer and attempted to stab him with a knife, wounding him in the hand, the release said.

The injured officer tried moving away from the man, but he rushed back towards the officer, who lost his footing and fell to the ground.

As the man tried to stab him again, the other officers opened fire, striking the man four times, according to the release.

He was transported to a clinic, where he was pronounced dead at 8:40 p.m.

The man was identified as 34-year-old Jamie Kavik, as reported by APTN.

The director’s office found that the officers’ use of force was justified under the Criminal Code.

This is the first of four police-involved deaths from the past year and a half to receive a decision on charges.

Joshua Papigatuk died in November 2024 and his twin brother Garnet was badly injured after they were shot by police in Salluit.

In May 2025, Mark R. Annanack died in Kangiqsualujjuaq after a confrontation with police.

Then, in December 2025, a six-year-old girl identified by a family member as Alacie Iqaluk died and her father, Andrew Naluktuk, was injured in a police-involved shooting in Inukjuak.