From the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT):

No one was injured during the incident in Wetaskiwin.

At approximately 3:30 a.m. that same day, Wetaskiwin RCMP detachment received an intrusion alarm complaint. An officer responded and attended the local car dealership. Upon arrival in his police truck, the officer circled the building and interrupted an “in progress” break-and-enter to the dealership. A masked person ran from the building towards a Ford F-150 truck parked along the side of the building, running with the vehicle lights on. A woman who was originally in the driver’s seat moved to the passenger side when the masked man ran and entered the suspect vehicle. The masked man made it to the driver’s seat before the officer could cut him off.

As the officer pulled his vehicle beside the F-150, it struck the F-150 driver’s door, closing it, and the vehicles ended up briefly stopped door-to-door, facing opposite directions. The masked man started to drive away from the police vehicle and the office fired a single round out his open driver’s window. The shot entered through the driver’s side rear door window of the suspect vehicle, went through the front passenger seat’s side window and struck another vehicle in the parking lot, where the bullet was later recovered. The officer called in that shots had been fired and stated over the radio that the man had reached for something in the F-150. Portions of the incident were captured on the dealership security surveillance system and on the video system in the police vehicle.

The F-150 exited the parking lot at high speeds and would ultimately be involved in brief pursuits in the area of Maskwacis and on Highway 2 near Ponoka, but avoided apprehension. The first officer lost sight of the F-150 almost immediately and returned to the parking lot of the car dealership. The F-150 was ultimately found abandoned on a rural road near Lacombe. Forensic examination of the vehicle and the crime scene resulted in the identification of the masked man as a 27-year-old man. He was arrested approximately one week later and admitted his involvement in these events.  

Under the Criminal Code, police officers are entitled to use as much force as is reasonably necessary to carry out their lawful duties. Furthermore, officers may respond with lethal force in circumstances where they reasonably believe that there is an imminent risk of death or grievous bodily harm to them or any other person. Lastly, officers may use lethal force to prevent flight in limited circumstances.

At the time of this incident, the RCMP officer was acting in lawful execution of his duties. The masked man was observed committing an indictable offence(s), escalated because of the decision to commit the offence while masked, and was clearly subject to apprehension and lawful arrest. At issue was whether the use of force was reasonably necessary. When interviewed by ASIRT investigators, the man candidly conceded that it was possible that the officer might have perceived some of his actions as him possibly reaching for something. On the whole of the evidence, while dealing with a masked intruder it was not unreasonable to consider that the subject might be armed.

The question was whether it was subjectively and objectively reasonable for this officer to believe that the man might be arming himself, putting the officer’s life and safety at risk. While it was not the only inference that an officer might draw in the circumstances, it was an inference that could be drawn.

Having reviewed the investigation, the determination has been made that there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed any Criminal Code offence(s). As such, no charges are appropriate.

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. This mandate includes incidents involving discharge of a firearm that would likely have resulted in serious injury or death had the person been struck.