The officers involved in the attempted arrest that ultimately led to the death of a suspect nearly three years ago have been cleared by the province’s independent investigation arm.
Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) issued a release on April 8 that the actions of all three Bashaw RCMP officers involved in the Oct. 19, 2017 incident that say a 37-year-old suspect died were lawful and justified given the circumstances.
That day began with a complaint about a Ford 250 heavy-duty pick up truck stolen around 7:30 a.m and another call about a suspicious vehicle parked on Range Road 235 just south of Hwy. 11 that was matched to the stolen truck.
Three officers in full uniform and marked vehicles arrived at the scene close to 9:30 a.m. to find a man that appeared asleep in the driver’s seat with a used syringe on the console. After placing a spike belt under the truck and using the vehicles to block it in, one officer opened the driver’s door, touched the man and told him he was under arrest.
The suspect stirred as the officer attempted to apply handcuffs and then attempted to put the truck in gear, after several commands to not move and that he was being arrested.
The struggle with the suspect continued with the officer reaching for keys, but found none in the ignition. The suspect then reached for the gear shift and the officer wasn’t able to remove the man as his seat belt was on.
The engine began revving and the suspect got the truck into reverse. The officer ended up being caught by the open door and dragged, with the other two officers jumping out of the way.
The truck reversed hard into a marked RCMP vehicle parked behind it, with the arresting officer fearing he was going to fall or get pulled underneath the truck. All of the officers were yelling for the suspect to stop, but he continued on.
At this point, the officer who had been in front of truck could no longer see the upper body of the officer trapped by the door. So, fearing for that officer’s life and safety, he fired three rounds. Just then, the trapped officer was able to push himself away from the door and just far enough to avoid being run over by the still quick-moving truck. The third officer also got one shot off.
It was later determined the suspect sustained a critical head injury from one of the shots, though the truck continued in reverse with such force that the RCMP vehicle it was pushing eventually rolled over. Meanwhile, the truck carried on through a ditch and crashing through a cattle gate before stopping in a field.
The officers found the man’s foot still on the accelerator and attempted medical aid prior to EMS arriving. The suspect ended up taken to Edmonton by STARS where he was pronounced dead. The man died from a gunshot wound to the head and that he had meth in his system.
”Upon careful review of the evidence, it is the opinion of executive director Susan Hughson, Q.C., that the evidence does not provide reasonable grounds to believe that any officers committed any offences,” the ASIRT release stated.
“The investigation was comprehensive and thorough, using current best investigative practices. ASIRT interviewed all relevant police and civilian witnesses, including the involved officers who provided voluntary statements.”
ASIRT also was able to view high-quality security video from a nearby rural residence and in-car video from the three RCMP vehicles on the scene.
The release added that the use of lethal force, “employed only after the man failed to comply with commands and escalated the situation by putting the vehicle in motion and dragging the officer – was reasonable. The risk presented by these actions was both serious and immediate. These actions, both objectively and subjectively, gave rise to a risk of grievous bodily harm or death to the officer, and accordingly, the decision by officers to fire their service weapons, albeit a last resort, was both lawful and justified.”