On September 28, 2015, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) was directed by the Director of Law Enforcement to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a 48-year-old man.
On the same date at 9:02 a.m., Cold Lake RCMP received a call from a woman concerned for a friend’s well-being. The woman believed that the man may bring harm to himself. Shortly after 10:40 a.m., RCMP located the man near the Cold Lake Agricultural Society rodeo grounds crouched down in the bush with a long barreled firearm pointed towards himself.
The two officers who came upon him drew their police service pistols, called for backup, and began to negotiate with him telling him not to do it and to drop the gun. At one point, the man placed the gun on his knees with the barrel pointing in the direction of one of the officers, although he told the police he was not going to shoot them. He then shifted the gun again directing it back towards himself.
One of the officers holstered his service weapon and drew his Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW), commonly known as a Taser, hoping to use it to provide the opportunity to get the gun away from the man. Unfortunately, the man took his own life seconds before the officer deployed the CEW.
ASIRT Executive Director Susan D. Hughson, Q.C. carefully reviewed the completed investigation. The autopsy report confirmed that the cause of death was a single shotgun wound. The evidence from the forensic examination of the CEW probes, the examination of man’s body at the time of autopsy, and the examination of the CEW exhibits by an expert all demonstrated that the CEW failed to successfully deploy and that no electrical current was delivered to the man confirming that the CEW played no role in his death. The evidence also confirmed that the officers were attempting to de-escalate the situation when the man took his own life. There are no reasonable grounds to believe either officer committed any criminal offence. This was a tragedy for all involved.
A finding that the officers were not responsible for the death of the man in no way diminishes the sad fact that the family of the man lost their loved one in heartbreaking circumstances. On behalf of ASIRT, the Executive Director extends condolences to the family and friends of the deceased in relation to this tragic event.
ASIRT’s mandate is to effectively, 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.