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Several gunshots heard during fatal police shooting in Red Deer

RCMP and Alberta Serious Incident Response Team continue to investigate

A Red Deer resident says he heard several gunshots after police swarmed the Red Deer hospital parkade where one man died in a confrontation with officers on Monday night.

The local resident, who did not want to be identified, said he rushed out to his balcony after hearing about seven or eight loud, metallic crashing sounds.

“It was a huge volley of shots. They were overlapping. There were a ton of shots all at once,” said the resident.

Red Deer RCMP said at about 9 p.m. a confrontation occurred between officers and a driver during which time officers discharged their service weapons and the man died.

RCMP said officers were responding to multiple driving complaints when they stopped a vehicle in the parkade at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.

The resident said he recognized the sound of gunfire because he heard it in March after moving into the area near the hospital.

He said he did not hear any police sirens prior to the Sunday’s gunshots. After the shooting, several more police vehicles arrived.

“They swarmed the area pretty much right away.”

Related:

UPDATE: Man dies in confrontation with Red Deer RCMP near hospital

Police contained the area and the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) were investigating the shooting.

Independent of ASIRT’s investigation, the RCMP’s internal review process has been started for a full account of what took place. RCMP training, policy, police response, and the member’s duty status will be subject to review.

Access to the Red Deer Hospital parkade was restricted while the investigations were underway.

The resident said crime happens in every city, but he didn’t expect shootings so close to his Red Deer home. Three days after he moved in, his vehicle was broken into. Now there’s been two shootings.

On Monday, Red Deer RCMP were also involved in another “police incident” in Highland Green at about 4 p.m.

The resident wondered Tuesday morning if both incidents were linked, and if so, why wasn’t the public warned. He recalled how police in Nova Scotia failed to warn the public about a shooter in April 2020 and 22 people were killed.

He said as far as anyone knows, what happened at the parkade started just because of some driving complaints, and ended up being a fatal police shooting.

“It’s pretty crazy.”

On Tuesday afternoon, RCMP confirmed the two incidents weren’t related.

Related:

UPDATED: Homicide under investigation in Red Deer



szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com

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