Article content
Alberta’s police watchdog is investigating after a confrontation between a man and Bonnyville RCMP officers Friday ended with a man shot by a police officer.
In a Saturday news release, police said officers were called at 9:45 p.m. to a report of a man “acting erratically, trying to break into a room where people were hiding, and causing damage” to a rural home near Bonnyville, a town 240 kilometres east of Edmonton.
Article content
Police said officers identified themselves and entered the home where they successfully removed a number of people from the home to safety. Afterwards, the man confronted the officers again, police said, which resulted in one officer shooting the man.
Officers performed first aid on the man, police said, and EMS paramedics were called to the scene. The man was taken by STARS air ambulance to hospital, where he remains in serious, life-threatening condition. No officers were injured.
“A non-police firearm was recovered at the scene,” police said in the news release.
The director of law enforcement has been notified and has directed the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) to investigate.
ASIRT investigates cases where people are seriously hurt or killed during interactions with police, as well as serious or sensitive allegations of police misconduct. The results of ASIRT’s investigation will be made public once it is completed.
“Events like this are difficult for the communities in which they occur, as well as the general public and RCMP members involved,” said RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff, in the news release. “RCMP members recognize the trust placed in them to use force that is necessary, proportional and reasonable and in so doing remain fully accountable. While this is not the outcome that we hope for, it is a situation for which RCMP members are highly trained.”
Recommended from Editorial
Two charged with second-degree murder after 2022 stabbing at Edmonton Institution
$80,000 cash found in ex-Edmonton police officer’s locker, documents claim; veteran member charged alongside traffic ticket agent in ASIRT probe
Share this article in your social network