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Alberta agency clears RCMP after fatal shooting of suspected robber

A police watchdog says a suspected robber shot and killed by RCMP outside a convenience store in northern Alberta wanted to die.

GRANDE PRAIRIE — A police watchdog says a suspected robber shot and killed by RCMP outside a convenience store in northern Alberta wanted to die.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team says in a release that the 19-year-old man planned the confrontation with Mounties in Grande Prairie on Jan. 2, 2015.

It says he armed himself with a unloaded pellet gun that looked like a real handgun and ordered the store clerk to call police.

The man later released the worker and, over the phone, warned officers that he had a gun and would kill officers if they did not shoot him first.

When he came out of the store, he aimed at an officer, who shot the man in the stomach and legs.

He later died in hospital.

The agency's executive director says a review of the shooting determined officers at the scene lawfully did their job.

"The available evidence paints a clear picture of a young man who wished to die at the hands of police and who carefully orchestrated a confrontation which left police with little alternative but to respond with lethal force," said Susan Hughson.

"The evidence also establishes that, despite clear statements to the contrary, the man never wished harm to come to anyone other than himself."