Calgary police officer ‘lawfully’ used lethal force in February shooting: ASIRT

Alberta’s police watchdog said a Calgary police officer was “lawfully” using lethal force in a non-fatal shooting in the northeast neighbourhood of Temple in February.

According to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), numerous 9-1-1 calls were made reporting an adult man “brandishing” a firearm and “engaging in criminal behaviour” with the public at around 7 p.m. on Feb. 29.

The callers said the man was allegedly harming members of the public, and one caller said they had been a victim of an attempted carjacking by a man with a gun. Another caller said the man approached them with a gun in his hand and struck them in the head, which left the victim bleeding.

Police said the timing of the calls and the description of the man led them to believe the same person was involved in all the incidents.

The Calgary Police Service said in a news release on March 3 that the incidents appear to be random and none of the victims are believed to be known to the suspect. The release also said the incidents happened in the area near Temple Drive Northeast.

ASIRT said the subject officer (SO) was working alone that night in a marked CPS vehicle and had been responding to another call in the general area. The officer began driving to the location of the calls while receiving updates about the man with the firearm from his colleagues.

The ASIRT report said the SO encountered a man — referred to as the affected person (AP) by ASIRT — who matched the description given to him. The provincial police watchdog said the AP was still holding a handgun and “brandishing it in his right hand.” The SO then drove his vehicle diagonally across an intersection and parked his car directly in front of the AP.

The SO then said on the radio that he located the AP and exited the CPS vehicle, where he identified himself as a police officer and yelled seven separate commands to the AP to drop the gun.

ASIRT said the AP was still holding their firearm in his right hand and walked rapidly towards the officer. The AP placed his left hand on the top part of the gun in “what appears (to be) an attempt to manipulate the slide on the gun.” The report said the AP was waving both hands in the air “in an erratic fashion” while still holding the gun.

The SO continued to command the AP to drop the gun, while also walking backwards away from the AP towards the back of his police vehicle, the report said. The AP followed the SO while holding the gun, which ASIRT said was used to attempt to intimidate the SO.

When the AP reached the front driver’s door of the police vehicle, the SO (positioned slightly behind the police vehicle) fired three shots at the AP. One of the shots hit the AP in the leg, which caused the SO to throw the gun onto the road.

ASIRT said the AP then fell onto the ground and the SO ordered them to show their hands, a command that was not immediately followed. Two other officers arrived moments after the shots were fired and told the SO to retreat until the scene was considered safe. All three officers then approached the AP together, where he was handcuffed without incident and provided first aid, ASIRT said. The AP was then transported to hospital.

ASIRT noted SO’s police vehicle had a front-facing video camera and he was wearing a body camera at the time, both of which were activated.

“The SO was clearly lawfully placed in the execution of his duties … The SO had exhausted his options by already issuing numerous lawful commands and attempting to create a safe distance from the male,” the ASIRT report read.

“In this situation, the SO resorted to lethal force when faced with a member of the public who was confronting them with what presented as a lethal weapon. An examination of the gun afterwards determined it to be an airsoft gun. This is immaterial to the legal analysis. The gun presented as a real weapon and the SO was justified under the circumstances as treating it as a lethal threat.”

Akol Acuil Piok, 36, was charged in relation to the incident, CPS said on March 3. He was charged with three counts of robbery, two counts of assault with a weapon and two counts of failure to comply with a probation order. His case is before the courts.

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