The fatal shooting of a young man who threatened to stab an RCMP officer was justified and reasonable under the circumstances, an investigation has concluded.
“He was not behaving rationally, was clearly actively and aggressively advancing on the officer with the knife and was not deterred by the [Taser], the repeated commands and warning, or, in fact, even being shot,” said a report by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Teams.
“He continued his pursuit of the officer until he could physically no longer do so.”
The shooting happened on Whitefish Lake First Nation northwest of St. Paul.
On Sept. 6, 2017, at 6:16 p.m., a family member of the 26-year-old man, unnamed in the report, called police to say she was worried the man was going to hurt himself.
At the time, police were told, the man was sweating badly and walking down a road with a baseball bat, threatening people.
When the lone officer arrived, the audio of his exchange with the man was captured by the cruiser’s video camera.
The officer addressed the man by name, asking him, “What’s going on?” the report said.
‘Drop the knife’
Within three seconds, the officer could be heard repeatedly calling out, “Drop the knife.”
The officer fired his Taser which stopped the man only momentarily.
He continued to direct the man to “drop the knife,” sounding increasingly more frantic, the report continued.
“Drop the knife or you’re going to get shot,” the officer could be heard saying.
Two gunshots were heard and the officer immediately called “shots fired” repeatedly over the police radio.
The man fell to the ground and could be heard groaning.
Again, the man slowly got to his feet and advanced in the direction of the officer, still motioning with the knife.
Ultimately, the man’s injuries caused him to collapse, the report said.
In light of the evidence, the report concluded the force used by the officer was justified and reasonable.
“In these circumstances, the man both subjectively and objectively posed a risk of grievous bodily harm or death to the officer.”
“The level of force employed, while tragic, was lawful.”
“Having found that there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed any offences, the officer will not be charged.”