LAKELAND – RCMP officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing in a double shooting that occurred in the Smoky Lake area on Aug. 8, 2022, after the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) completed its investigation.
ASIRT investigates incidents involving Alberta's police. ASIRT released the full report of its investigation of the incident on April 30.
Evidence in the investigation includes video and scene evidence.
On Aug. 8, 2022, an RCMP officer, indicated in the report as Subject Officer #1 (SO1), was investigating an alleged domestic violence occurrence in the Saddle Lake area.
A woman, indicated as Affected Person #1 (AP1) in the report, was reported to have been assaulted “and possibly held against her will by her boyfriend,” reads the report. The woman's boyfriend was identified as Affected Person #2 (AP2) in the report.
While searching the Saddle Lake area, the officer found a vehicle associated with the boyfriend – a white Lincoln MKC. RCMP believed the couple had been involved in a criminal pursuit with police a day prior, in the same white vehicle.
When the officer activated his emergency lights, the man drove the vehicle away with the woman in the passenger’s seat, initiating a criminal pursuit with police. “The pursuit involved various speeds of up to 120 km/hr,” reads the report, with the man driving into oncoming traffic numerous times.
RCMP successfully used a spike belt to damage the tires of the Lincoln, but the driver continued to drive into oncoming traffic, forcing civilian drivers to move to the side of the road.
The woman reportedly fired a rifle out the window from the passenger’s seat, apparently at the officer, who was directly behind them.
“No damage or injuries resulted from the shot,” according to the report.
The officer, along with two other RCMP officers, proceeded to follow from a distance, until the couple turned into a gas station in Smoky Lake.
At the gas station, the boyfriend allegedly carjacked a red truck at gunpoint as the woman voluntarily entered the truck with him. The officer fired one shot at the fleeing stolen vehicle, striking the rear windshield.
Police continued their pursuit through the Town of Smoky Lake, before eventually losing sight of the truck. A large-scale search for the truck in Smoky Lake County was conducted.
About an hour later, police found the stolen truck abandoned in a pea field. A search was conducted with Emergency Response Team (ERT) officers and a police dog.
The man, armed with a rifle, was soon tracked down through high pea fields, standing at a distance. The report indicates he was shirtless and armed with a rifle that he reportedly pointed in the general direction of the police.
“He was not heard saying anything prior to pointing the gun. At this time [the woman's] location was not known,” reads the report.
An officer commanded the boyfriend to put his gun down and that he was under arrest, as to also make other officers aware that contact was made and a firearm was involved.
The man did not comply with order, and according to witness officers, reportedly raised and positioned the butt of his rifle into his right shoulder.
One of the officers present, indicated as Subject Officer #3 (SO3) in the report, believed, as per his training with the ERT, that this was an indicator that the man was preparing to shoot his gun. He believed the officers were under imminent threat.
The officer explained to ASIRT this belief stemmed from various factors, including his training, where he learned bringing a rifle up to the shoulder would enable a person to effectively aim and shoot at their target.
The couple had also already shot at officers, and the officer reported he was scared for his and his team’s safety.
The officer, along with Subject officers #2 and #4 "fired their respective police issued carbines in the direction of [the man], causing him to fall to the ground and out of sight,” reads the report. “The officers moved towards [the man's] location and along the way found [the woman] laying in the pea field.”
The woman had suffered a gunshot wound to her right shoulder.
Emergency medical aid was provided to both individuals. The woman died on the scene, while the man was transported by air to the University of Alberta Hospital.
“A subsequent autopsy determined the cause of [the woman's] death to be a fatal gun shot wound, which had entered the top of her right shoulder, then travelled down towards her heart and lungs. The full extent of [the man's] injuries, and his perspective of this event are unknown, as he refused to speak to investigators about the incident or provide consent to access his medical records,” reads the report.
All four subject officers cooperated with the ASIRT investigation and provided statements.
Following the investigation, Michael Ewenson, executive director at ASIRT, concluded in his report, that the conduct of the subject officers were lawful.
Ewenson wrote that under Sections 25 and 34 of the Criminal Code, the officers’ use of force was deemed proportionate, reasonably necessary, and legally justified.
“There is no evidence to support any belief that they engaged in any unlawful or unreasonable conduct that would give rise to an offence. [The woman's] death, while extremely unfortunate and tragic, does not change the analysis,” wrote Ewenson.
