RCMP cleared in death of central Alberta man shot at home during mental health crisis
An RCMP officer who fatally shot a Red Deer, Alta., man who was experiencing a mental health crisis in the basement of his home has been cleared of wrongdoing in the death.
The 33-year-old, who lived with schizophrenia and substance abuse issues, was killed in 2023 after his family had sought to have him detained under the Mental Health Act.
In a report issued Thursday, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team found that the officer’s use of force in the shooting was justified.
According to the report, the Mountie was “lawfully placed, and acting properly” in the execution of his duties when he opened fire on the armed man, firing six shots.
“There is no evidence to support any belief that any officer engaged in any unlawful or unreasonable conduct that would give rise to an offence,” said Michael Ewenson, ASIRT’s executive director.
“While the death of [affected person] is unfortunate, the force used by [subject officer] was proportionate, necessary and reasonable in all the circumstances.”
A call for help
According to the report, the incident began with a call to 911 on the afternoon of April 13, 2023.
The man’s father had called Red Deer RCMP for help, reporting that his son had threatened him with a knife.
The man’s family had obtained a court order earlier that day to have him detained under the Mental Health Act but officers had yet to arrive to execute the order and bring the man to hospital for care.
When RCMP responded to the call, they found the man in the basement, laying on his side on a mattress on the basement floor.
The father told police that his son had threatened to slash his throat but assured officers upon their arrival at the family home that his son would be apprehended peacefully.
According to the ASIRT report, the officers repeatedly attempted to engage with the man and tell him he was being apprehended but he refused to comply and continued to lie on his bed, facing the wall.
As the officer approached, the man rolled over, pulled a knife from beneath his body and began to sit up.
The officer backed away and pointed his conducted energy weapon at the man, eventually deploying it when the man refused to drop the knife.
But the shock from the stun gun did not incapacitate him.
The officer then drew his pistol. A second officer deployed his conducted energy weapon and shocked the man but he continued to keep hold of the knife.
Death angers family’
Then, the man who was on his knees, still holding the knife, lunged toward the first officer.
The officer was about two metres away with his back against the wall. He fired his pistol at the man until he collapsed near his feet.
“Fearing for his and his fellow officers’ safety,” the officer shot the man, striking him several times, the report said.
Officers administered first aid but the man died of injuries at the scene.
An autopsy determined the man died of multiple gunshot wounds.
A knife, described by one of the officers as a large butcher knife, was later found discarded on the basement floor. Six pistol casings were recovered from the scene.
According to the ASIRT report, the man had been diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was a teenager and had a dependency on narcotics.
When speaking with investigators, the man’s father expressed anger over his son’s death and described the incident as an “assassination.”
He told investigators that he was there in the basement when his son fell to his knees before being shot — and said he did not hear the officer issue any warnings.
ASIRT investigators, however, ruled that officers were justified in their response.
The man presented officers “a lethal threat” given his possession of the knife, and his refusal to drop it, despite numerous commands to do so, Ewenson wrote.
The officer was acting out his duty to protect himself and others at the scene, Ewenson said.
Further, attempts to stop him with less lethal force were ineffective.
Under the circumstances as then faced by the officers, no other use of force options was reasonably available for attempted use.
“The [officer’s] reliance on using his firearm to incapacitate this threat was reasonably necessary,” Ewenson said.
“[The man’s] subsequent death, while tragic, does not change the analysis.”
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