By Troy Gillard

26 y/o man injured

Man injured during RCMP officer-involved shooting west of Red Deer: ASIRT

Dec 17, 2019 | 3:23 PM

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), the province’s police watchdog, continues to investigate after an RCMP officer fired a shot that injured a man during an altercation last week west of Red Deer.

It was at approximately 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 13 when a lone RCMP member driving a marked police vehicle came across a vehicle that appeared to be stuck on the side of the road in the area of Range Road 10 and Burnt Lake Trail.

ASIRT notes in a release that the marked police vehicle was equipped with an in-car video recording system, and that it was operational.

After stopping to determine if they required assistance, ASIRT says the officer encountered three men trying to get the vehicle back onto the road. During the encounter, the men attacked the officer and took them to the ground. During the ensuing struggle, the men were trying to remove the officer’s equipment.

ASIRT says that during the confrontation, the officer was able to fire their service pistol. The three men got into the marked police vehicle and drove away before Mounties later found it abandoned in a field near Highway 11, between Red Deer and Sylvan Lake.

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Shortly thereafter, officers apprehended and arrested all three men. Two of the men, a 25-year-old and a 27-year-old, were uninjured, while a 26-year-old man had sustained a gunshot wound to his right calf. He was transported to hospital, treated and released into police custody.

The officer involved in the altercation sustained minor injuries.

Police later determined that the vehicle stopped along Burnt Lake Trail was stolen. ASIRT says investigators found a loaded firearm in the glove compartment during a subsequent search.

The RCMP retains responsibility for the investigation into the conduct of the three men. ASIRT’s investigation will focus on the officer-involved shooting. As their investigation is now underway, ASIRT says no further information will be released at this time.

ASIRT’s mandate is to effectively, independently and objectively investigate incidents involving Alberta’s police that have resulted in serious injury or death to any person, as well as serious or sensitive allegations of police misconduct.