Quebec's workplace health and safety board says dangerous intervention techniques led to the death of Laval police officer Valérie Gignac in 2005.

Gignac, 25, was shot dead by François Pépin, who fired a rifle at her through his apartment door after the Laval constable answered a domestic disturbance call placed by a neighbour in the building.

Gignac and her partner tried briefly to kick the door in before Pépin took a shot. The bullet pierced Gignac's bullet-proof vest and struck her in the stomach. She died shortly after.

Pépin pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and was sentenced to life in jail with no chance of parole for 12 years.

In a report released Wednesday, the workplace health and safety board (CSST) said that Gignac and her partner were not properly trained to handle those types of situations.

The officers "thought at [that] moment that another person was in danger in the apartment, but the person [Pépin] was alone, so their analysis was inexact," said Alexandra Reny, a spokeswoman for the CSST.

"We judged that it was inappropriate to try to open the door by force," she added. But Gignac and her partner aren't to blame because they didn't have proper training, she said.

Gignac had been on the force for four years when she died.

The CSST is recommending the Laval force review standard procedures for opening doors by force, and that officers receive training every two years. The police force said it has already complied with the suggestion.

The workplace health and safety board is also investigating another Laval police officer's shooting death. Const. Daniel Tessier died last year in a botched drug raid.

His shooter, Basil Parasiris, was acquitted on murder charges this summer after he pleaded self-defence.

That case raised questions about Laval police raid procedures.