On October 9, 2015, ASIRT (Alberta Serious Incident Response Team) was directed to enter into an investigation into the circumstances surrounding an officer-involved shooting that occurred on the same date in Lethbridge.
At approximately 6:29 p.m. that evening, the Lethbridge Regional Police Service (LPRS) received multiple 911 calls about a man causing a disturbance in a Safeway store in west Lethbridge. Callers indicated that the man appeared to be impaired and he was behaving irrationally. Callers also indicated that the man was armed with a knife.
Officers from the LPRS responded to the location but the man was no longer on scene. A search of the immediate area located the man, later confirmed to be 17 years of age, in the area of the 300 block of Red Crow Boulevard West. He appeared agitated and was armed with a large-bladed knife. During the course of a confrontation with the young man, a Lethbridge Regional Police Service officer fired his service pistol striking the man. The man suffered significant injuries and fell to the ground. Immediate medical assistance was provided by officers on scene until Emergency Medical Services arrived and the man was transported to hospital.
The 17-year old man remains in hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries. ASIRT investigators have confirmed that the man obtained the knife from behind the butcher counter while in the Safeway store.
ASIRT investigators have had the opportunity to speak with some witnesses present at the time of the officer-involved shooting but are asking any members of the public who were in the area at the time and may have seen the confrontation between the police and the man to come forward and share their information. In particular, the occupants of a newer red SUV believed to have been in the area and in a good position to see the confrontation are asked to contact ASIRT at (403) 592-4306.