RCMP were on scene Monday morning just blocks from Red Deer Regional Hospital. (Contributed)

By rdnewsNOW staff

Suspect In Custody

ASIRT calling for witnesses to come forward in Red Deer officer-involved shooting

Aug 25, 2020 | 3:23 PM

Officials with the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) are asking any witnesses to come forward with information regarding an officer-involved shooting on Red Deer’s south hill Monday morning.

On Aug. 24, ASIRT was directed to investigate the circumstances surrounding a confrontation between a woman and an RCMP officer that resulted in the officer discharging his service pistol, resulting in an injury to the woman.

On Aug. 24 at about 2:30 a.m., an RCMP officer located a white Ford Edge, which was believed to have been involved in an earlier incident. The vehicle appeared to be parked and backed into position on a driveway in a residential area near 51 Avenue and 33 Street in Red Deer.

Officials say the available evidence to date, including the police vehicle’s Watchguard video, indicates the officer exited his marked police vehicle and proceeded on foot toward the suspect vehicle.

As he approached the front of the vehicle, a 22-year-old female driver drove at the officer, who fired his service weapon as he moved out of the way. The driver fled the scene in the suspect vehicle and was not immediately apprehended.

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At about 7:00 a.m., Red Deer RCMP located the suspect vehicle, now abandoned in the Eastview community. It was determined that the license plate on the vehicle had been altered and the vehicle itself reported stolen.

Shortly after 11:00 a.m., the female driver was located at a Red Deer residence and arrested. As she had an evident penetrating injury to her left leg, the woman was examined by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel and transported to hospital for treatment. She was discharged and remains in custody.

Anytime a police officer in Alberta discharges a firearm at a person, it is deemed serious.

The ASIRT investigation will focus on the initial confrontation between the 22-year-old woman and the police officer, specifically the circumstances surrounding the discharge of the service weapon and the conduct of the officer, to determine whether the officer’s conduct caused her injury and, if so, whether that conduct was lawful.

RCMP maintain responsibility for the investigation of the conduct of the female driver.

If anyone was in the area of 33 Street and 50 Avenue in Red Deer at about 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 24 and witnessed the initial confrontation between police and the person or persons associated with the white Ford Edge, or has any information or video related to this confrontation, please contact ASIRT investigators at 403-592-4306.

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.

Related: ASIRT investigating officer-involved shooting blocks from Red Deer Regional Hospital