ASIRT determines no one will be charged in fatal officer-involved shooting
Posted Dec 18, 2015 10:27 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has determined no charges will be laid in a fatal officer involved shooting on Deerfoot Tr.
It happened on Feb. 28, 2015. According to police, they were responding to a complaint of shot fired in the area Copperfield Blvd. S.E.
When police arrived, they found a Ford F-350 completing a U-turn on 130 Ave. S.E., making it’s way eastbound.
Calgary Police deployed the its helicopter and followed the truck, as it tore through sidewalks, medians, curbs, pathways and through a fence, running red lights and making illegal turns. It also hit several civilian vehicles in the process, causing injuries to some bystanders.
The truck then entered southbound Deerfoot Tr. travelling at a high rate of speed, it made a sudden sharp left turn, drove across the lanes and smashed into a concrete barrier in the middle of the highway.
It would later end up facing the opposite direction in the southbound lanes. According to the news release, police vehicles then rammed the truck repeatedly south of the McKenzie Lake overpass after it began to proceed northbound. The entire path of destruction lasted 53 minutes.
Two officers fired at the truck striking the 34-year-old man driving. Police say they noticed a dark object being held out in front of the 27-year-old female passenger’s face.
They fired at her, hitting her in the face. She was later rushed to hospital in critical condition while the driver was pronounced dead on scene.
The dark object being held out in front of her was later determined to be sunglasses, and there was never a gun inside the truck.
ASIRT says they were later told by the passenger, that the driver had been using methamphetamine and that he had been awake for days. She would later tell investigators that he was in the worst condition she had ever seen.
Investigators add they were also told she had held out the sunglasses and pointed at the officers to make police think she had a weapon, and she was hoping to die with the driver.
The driver was on bail at the time of the incident for similar dangerous encounters with both the RCMP and Calgary Police.
ASIRT’s Executive Director Susan Hughson received the completed investigation and upon reviewing it, forwarded the file to the Alberta Crown for an opinion. After consultation, Hughson says she confirmed the officers will not be charged with any criminal offences.
