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By Tanner Smith
*TRIGGER WARNING*

ASIRT finds GP RCMP officer “entitled to defend himself”

Apr 15, 2026 | 2:58 PM

ASIRT has concluded an investigation into a Grande Prairie RCMP-involved shooting in January.

On Jan. 6, a man was driving to his farm in the County of Grande Prairie and witnessed an SUV ignore posted stop signs, resulting in the vehicle going airborne and landing in the snow. The man noted the driver seemed disoriented and offered to help him get his SUV out of the snow with the assistance of a friend; however, the driver was gone when they returned, leading them to call RCMP.

As an officer approached the scene, ASIRT says the driver is seen on video footage walking across the road in front of a police cruiser before approaching the passenger side once it came to a stop.

The pair then disappeared from the cruiser’s footage with “relaxed demanour,” before returning to the frame a few seconds later, grappling with each other.

During their altercation, the officer was stabbed in the left shoulder while the driver was shot once. ASIRT reports that the two then separated, and the driver was tased four times as he refused to surrender and give up the knife.

Other RCMP members then arrived at the scene and provided both men with first aid, before taking the driver into custody.

In interviews conducted by ASIRT, the driver admitted to drinking heavily before the incident abd being “blackout drunk” when it took place, as he was “attempting to build up the courage to take his own life,” adding that he fled into the woods after crashing his SUV to write a suicide note, before returning to the vehicle to retrieve his knife from the glove box.

The driver also recalled being physical with the officer and swinging his arm at him while holding a knife, believing his intoxication and suicidal ideations led him to try and provoke police into harming him.

As a result, ASIRT has concluded that the officer was entitled to defend himself after being stabbed, under ss. 34 and 25 of the Criminal Code.

The full report can be viewed by clicking here.

by Tanner Smith