Photo Courtesy ASIRT

By Tanner Smith

ASIRT

ASIRT concludes investigation into Grande Prairie officer-involved shooting

Aug 31, 2023 | 2:59 PM

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has concluded an investigation into a Grande Prairie RCMP officer-involved shooting, that took place in December of 2018.

After going through the evidence, and conducting multiple interviews with the responding officers, the suspect, and a civilian witness. ASIRT has decided the officers’ force used, was necessary and reasonable given the circumstances, and they were properly executing their duties as RCMP.

In the report presented to ASIRT, it said the officer-involved shooting stemmed from a Grande Prairie RCMP officer spotting a suspicious vehicle;

In the early morning of December 4, 2018, the first subject officer (SO1) was conducting patrols when they saw a male driving a truck in a suspicious manner, after SO1 positioned herself behind the vehicle to scan the plate, she had learned the vehicle was stolen. SO1 decided not to attempt a traffic stop on the stolen vehicle but kept following, this then led to the stolen vehicle to flee at a high rate of speed.

SO1 then turned on their lights and attempted a traffic stop but the suspect vehicle kept driving, and another officer, (SO2), informed SO2 he was coming her way for support. Shortly after the suspect then began driving north in a southbound lane, and a supervisor advised SO1 to stop their pursuit.

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The suspect vehicle then returned to the proper lane, while SO2 was arriving at the scene, and SO2 then took over as primary pursuit vehicle, with SO1 following behind him.

The chase eventually led to a relatively isolated access road, and the suspect vehicle then stopped the stolen truck partly down the road, and SO1 and SO2 then positioned themselves parallel on either side of the road, 20 metres behind the vehicle.

The stolen truck then began to reverse at a high rate of speed, ramming into the front of SO1’s vehicle, with her still inside. In response to this, SO2 began shooting at the driver of the vehicle but didn’t hit the driver. SO1’s vehicle was totaled during the collision.

The stolen vehicle then began to return fire at SO2, discharging a shotgun, with birdshot, before driving forward down the service road away from the officers. However, the vehicle stalled out 50 metres away.

Following the collision, SO2 continued to fire multiple rounds at the vehicle, and SO1, who was not seriously injured, made her way to cover behind SO2’s police cruiser, and also began to open fire at the truck.

After getting stuck, the suspect continued to fire their shotgun at both mounties, while a passenger in the vehicle, the civilian witness, (CW) hopped out of the truck, carrying a duffle bag, and went around the front of the vehicle, into a nearby ditch.

The suspect attempted the same shortly after, hopping out of the truck, with what officers observed to be a “long gun”, and made a break for the same ditch CW was in, but was shot in the left femur by mounties, on the road.

The suspect then got up and tried to walk but fell to the ground and stayed there, CW then came out of the ditch back towards the road and layed on the ground.

SO1 and SO2 then drove SO2’s police cruiser back out of the area until saw responding officers, and stayed in this location while backup apprehended the suspects.

During the arrest, mounties found a sawed-off shotgun that was fired by the suspect, and the duffle bag CW was carrying, which was open on the ground with a sawed-off .22 caliber rifle laying nearby.

The suspect then was taken to a hospital for surgery on his leg.

Three empty shotgun shells and 49 9mm bullet casings were also recovered from the scene.

In his interview, the suspect admitted to shooting at police for some “stupid reason”, but stated the truck was not stolen and had been borrowed from his friend. He said he did not stop for RCMP as he does not have a license and mounties “bug him all the time.”

The suspect also told ASIRT he only rammed the officers so they would leave him alone, and then was shot three times in the leg after getting out of the vehicle.

The suspect also told ASIRT he is a heroin and meth user and had used earlier in the morning.

The civilian witness interviewed sustained those claims, as he told ASIRT he was a known meth dealer and had used prior to picking him up.

Video evidence of this event was also provided to ASIRT, due to the collision SO1’s footage is unusable after being rammed, as the camera was moved and the hood went over the windshield. However, SO2’s footage was very clear, even showing pieces of pellets fly by the officers, further solidifying the officer’s claims.

To view the entire detailed report from ASIRT, click here.