By The Canadian Press

Court

Whitecourt Mounties charged after fatal shooting found not guilty

Dec 9, 2022 | 1:03 PM

EDMONTON – Two Mounties on trial in the death of an Alberta man have been found not guilty of manslaughter and aggravated assault.

Const. Jessica Brown and Cpl. Randy Stenger were charged after the 2018 shooting of Clayton Crawford near Whitecourt.

A jury heard that the two officers shot Crawford 10 times.

Whitecourt RCMP had been notified of the sighting of a purple pickup truck at a rest stop that was seen fleeing a shooting the day before in Valhalla Centre.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team said at the time that on July 2, 2018, there was what they call an attack at a home near Valhalla Centre where the people inside were fired on.

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A 31-year-old man fled the area in what ASIRT described as “a very distinctive vehicle.”

An off-duty Mountie spotted what he believed was that vehicle the next day and notified RCMP members who were on duty.

Police saw what they thought was someone asleep inside. A confrontation soon occurred, and the vehicle started moving.

Confusion as to whether the driver of the truck was a suspect in the shooting, or the intended target came up numerous times during the trial.

Stenger and Brown testified that they fired at Crawford when he tried to flee from the rest stop after they approached him.

Lawyers for the officers argued that their clients acted in self-defence, while the prosecution said the case is about failing to do basic police work.

(The Canadian Press)

– with files from Curtis Galbraith