The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) concluded there were "no reasonable grounds" to lay charges in the November 2024 shooting, which drew outrage from the Rwandan-Canadian community and sparked months of calls for accountability.
Kabera was shot multiple times on November 9, 2024, in the hallway of his Main Street West apartment building after police responded to reports of a man appearing to carry a handgun and behaving erratically.
According to the SIU report, Kabera was holding a replica firearm and advanced toward the officers before being shot. He was hit by eight bullets and died in hospital hours later.
'The object in the complainant's possession was not an actual firearm, although it did give the appearance of being a genuine semi-automatic pistol,' said SIU Director Joseph Martino.
'The officers reasonably believed their lives, and those of nearby residents, were in danger," he added.
The decision to clear the officers has left Kabera's grieving family and members of the Rwandan diaspora dismayed.
In a statement released through their legal counsel, Falconers LLP, the family expressed their disappointment: 'Erixon was loved by many and is deeply missed by his family, friends, and his community both in Canada and in Rwanda. We are disappointed with the findings of the investigation and are considering our legal options.'
Kabera, who worked as a Resource Officer with the Canada Revenue Agency and held leadership roles within the Rwandan community, including serving as Vice President of the Rwandan Community Abroad in Toronto, was remembered as a gentle and dedicated man who championed youth empowerment and cultural healing.
His brother, Parfait Karekezi, described him as a confidant, mentor, and friend. 'Erixon was everything to me,' he said in an earlier interview. 'I don't even know how I'm going to live with this.'
The SIU report said police fired as many as 24 rounds after Kabera exited his apartment holding the replica gun at waist level. One officer also deployed a Taser. During the altercation, one officer was wounded in the head by a bullet fired mistakenly by the other officer.
While the SIU acknowledged the officers' mistaken belief that they were under fire, the family has long questioned whether the police response was proportional and why alternative de-escalation measures weren't used.
"The initial narrative presented to the public was both misleading and damaging," the family stated in November, referring to a police update that initially suggested an exchange of gunfire. The SIU later corrected that, confirming only police discharged weapons.
In the over 200 days it took to complete the investigation, community leaders, including Alain Patrick Ndengera, Chairperson of the Rwandan Community in Canada, called for transparency and independent oversight.
'If any police officers are found to have acted wrongly, they should face the courts,' Ndengera said.
The Hamilton Police Service acknowledged the 'profound impact' the shooting has had and offered to meet with Kabera's family and Rwandan community leaders 'when the community is ready.'
But for many, the conclusion of the investigation offers little closure.
'They killed him like a dog,' Kabera's brother Yves Ikobe said in a past interview, recounting bullet holes left in the apartment wall and the trauma his family has endured.
Wycliffe Nyamasege
