An RCMP officer had little option but to shoot as an axe-wielding man approached him outside an O’Chiese First Nation home three years ago, an independent investigation determined.
“No alternative uses of force that were available that day would have been an effective response to the AP (Affected Person or shooting victim),” says the report from an Alberta Serious Incident Response Team investigator released on Tuesday.
The shooting happened at 10:37 a.m. on April 3, 2021 after police responded to a call that drunks were heard yelling, someone was jumping on cars and another was driving around.
The first officer on scene approached the house and spoke with a resident at 10:09 a.m. When checking his identity by radio, the officer learned there was an outstanding arrest warrant for the man, who then went back into the house.
The officer reported the man was “highly, highly aggravated right now, screaming inside.”
A second officer arrived about 10:23 a.m. and parked nearby at about the same time as the first officer went back to his RCMP vehicle.
At 10:37 a.m. the resident of the home came out carrying an axe and was yelling as he stepped off the porch and began moving towards the officer. At one point, he yelled, “Why don’t you just kill me?” the officer told an investigator.
The officer radioed the other officer and took out his handun. He took four steps towards the man, who appeared to be extremely intoxicated, and told him repeatedly to drop the axe.
“(The officer) believed that the AP was looking for a fight and, based on his history with other officers, believed that the AP could harm him.”
The man was well known to police. He was on their prolific offender list and had recently bear sprayed another officer in a separate incident.
When the approaching man was about 10 metres away the officer felt he was a danger to cause bodily harm or death and fired six shots. One hit the man on the right side of the face and three other shots hit him in the left side of his chest, left thigh and left lower leg.
The pathologist determined the cause of death was multiple firearm injuries to the body.
The investigation report said the officer’s response to the quickly escalating situation that lasted all of 14 seconds was reasonable and the “use of force was proportionate to the risk presented by the AP
“A person can run 10 metres within a couple of seconds. If a police officer lets a person carrying a deadly weapon too close to them, the officer risks not being able to respond to the an assault in time.
“It is unreasonable to expect an officer to wait until the last possible moment to fire their handgun, not miss, and stop the threat.”
The officer told the investigator that he had considered using pepper spray but decided it wouldn’t have been effective. The investigator agreed, saying if the pepper spray did not stop the man, the officer could have been attacked before he could pull out his handgun.
After the man was shot he hit the ground. He was handcuffed and officers gave him first aid until the ambulance arrived. Paramedics declared him dead at 10:56 a.m.
The altercation was caught on a video surveillance camera at the residence and on video from the officer’s vehicle.
The second officer saw the man raise the axe above his head before the shots were fired.
The investigation determined the use of force was reasonable and the officer had a right to defend himself in the “dynamic and rapidly evolving situation.
“(T)here are therefore no reasonable grounds to believe an offence was committed.
ASIRT’s mandate is to independently and objectively investigate incidents involving Alberta’s police that have resulted in serious injury or death to any person, as well as serious or sensitive allegations of police misconduct.
