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Alberta’s police watchdog has cleared a Mountie of wrongdoing after a man was shot during an arrest at a commercial lot in Cold Lake in 2020.
In a report on its decision issued Friday, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) said on Jan. 11, 2020, Cold Lake RCMP received a complaint of a break and enter in progress at a commercial lot in the northern city. The officer responded, and said he saw a suspect run to a red car and he stopped his marked police truck behind it, the report states. The officer then exited his vehicle when the red car backed into the police vehicle, pushing it backwards.
The officer drew his weapon and yelled commands before calling for backup on his radio. The report says the police vehicle was backed into a second time, and then the suspect vehicle began to drive forward. The officer then fired his handgun at the red car four times. The officer held the vehicle at gunpoint until more officers arrived to provide support. Upon apprehending the assailant, it was determined that the assailant had been shot once in his left calf. Officers also seized a rifle. Police called emergency medical services, who attended to the suspect and then transported him to the hospital. He was released a few hours later.
ASIRT investigators interviewed the Mountie and the assailant, and reviewed video footage from the police vehicle camera and a camera in the commercial lot.
The agency’s investigation concludes that the Mountie’s response was proportional and reasonable. The assailant rammed his vehicle into the officer’s vehicle and drove forward in the officer’s direction which entitled the officer to respond with force, as he felt his life was threatened.
