Local news delivered daily to your email inbox. Subscribe for FREE to the rdnewsNOW newsletter.
OCTOBER 2017 INCIDENT

RCMP acted reasonably in shooting fatality near Alix: ASIRT

Apr 9, 2020 | 8:54 AM

Alberta’s police watchdog has determined Bashaw RCMP members acted reasonably when they shot and killed a 37-year-old man during an incident near Alix in 2017.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) released the findings of its investigation into the incident on Wednesday.

At about 7:40 a.m. on October 19, 2017, ASIRT says RCMP received a complaint that a heavy-duty Ford 250 truck had been stolen from the Keyera Nevis Gas Plant. RCMP were then alerted that truck was parked on Range Road 235, south of Highway 11.

ASIRT says it was at about 9:21 a.m. when three officers in full uniform and in marked police vehicles arrived on scene to find the stolen vehicle parked, with a man who appeared to be asleep in the driver’s seat.

The three officers made a plan to arrest the man that involved placing a spike belt under the vehicle and arranging their vehicles to block the truck, ASIRT explained, while a look inside the vehicle revealed what appeared to be a used syringe on the console.

One of the officers opened the driver’s door, touched the man, and told him he was under arrest. The man stirred just as the officer grabbed his hand to apply handcuffs.

The man resisted, ASIRT says, and was again told he was under arrest and ordered not to move. The man tried to get the truck in gear. When the officer dealing with the man tried to reach in and grab the keys to turn off the truck, he found there were no keys in the ignition. The man reached for the gearshift and a physical struggle ensued.

Because the man was wearing his seatbelt, ASIRT says the officer was unable to pull him from the vehicle. The officers heard the engine revving as the man put the vehicle into reverse. While two of the officers were able to jump out of harm’s way, the third officer was caught between the vehicle and the open driver’s door and was dragged.

The truck backed hard into the marked RCMP vehicle parked behind it, continuing to accelerate and push it in reverse, trapping the officer in the process. ASIRT says the officer believed he was going to fall or get pulled underneath the truck and be seriously injured or killed.

The officers yelled for the man to stop the vehicle, which ASIRT says he failed to do. The trapped officer tried to jump away from the vehicle but continued to be pinned by the door. As the Ford reversed, the officer who had been in front of the vehicle was unable to see his colleague’s upper body. Fearing for the officer’s life and safety, ASIRT says he fired three rounds from his carbine (long-barreled firearm). At the same time, ASIRT says the trapped officer pushed himself away from door of the truck and fell far enough away to avoid being caught underneath it while it was moving. The third officer also fired a round from his service pistol, ASIRT noted.

The man sustained a head injury, ASIRT reports, as the truck continued in reverse and drove the RCMP vehicle into the ditch with such force that it rolled. The stolen vehicle continued to travel down the ditch, crashing through a farmer’s cattle gate before eventually stopping.

ASIRT says all officers ran to the vehicle, where they discovered the engine was running and the man’s foot was still on the accelerator. The man had a critical head injury but was still alive. Officers attempted to care for the man until Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrived and the man was ultimately transported by STARS to an Edmonton hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy determined the cause of death was the gunshot wound to the head. Toxicology reports revealed the presence of methamphetamine in the man’s body.

“Upon careful review of the evidence gathered in this matter, it is the opinion of executive director Susan Hughson, Q.C., that the evidence does not provide reasonable grounds to believe that any officers committed any offences,” ASIRT says in a media release. “This case differs from others in that the man’s decision to put his vehicle into motion immediately placed an officer at actual risk of grievous bodily harm or death.”