Edmonton Police Service officers were justified in using force shooting that left a robbery suspect and a man innocent died almost three years ago, Alberta Serious Incident Response Team concluded.
The police watchdog released its final report Wednesday into the fatal double shooting in central Edmonton on Feb. 23, 2022.
It all started when police were called to a robbery involving a firearm, believed to be a sawed-off shotgun or rifle, at a liquor store near 113th Street and 104th Avenue, shortly before 6 p.m. 30 p.m.
The man allegedly threatened to shoot anyone who followed him, according to the report.
Police who responded to the 911 call viewed surveillance video and, about a half-hour later, spotted a man who appeared to be the suspect at a bus shelter near 104th Street and 107th Avenue.
ASIRT said the man must have recognized police as he drove north on 105th Street. Three police officers ran after him, armed with two rifles and a service pistol.
Officers yelled at the man to stop and drop his gun, but ASIRT said he did not obey and continued to run.
ASIRT said the man crossed westbound into the LRT tracks parallel to the road on 105th Street. He turned toward the pursuing officers, pointing the gun in their direction.
Facing a risk of death, ASIRT said the three police officers fired their weapons at the suspect, who was hit and fell to the ground.
Police later discovered he was carrying an imitation “BB” gun that resembled a sawed-off long gun, but they did not know this at the time of the shooting.
An autopsy determined the 36-year-old robbery suspect died from multiple gunshot wounds and toxicology showed the presence of alcohol, fentanyl and methamphetamine in his blood.
ASIRT said the man was shot about 40 feet from the subway on the 105, a walk-up apartment building north of 107th Avenue along the LRT tracks.
While canvassing the area after the shooting for possible stray bullets, officers noticed several bullet holes in the exterior wall of the building, as well as in a first-floor window.
“Upon closer inspection, EPS officers observed a motionless man slumped in a chair in the ground floor apartment.”
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Police entered, saw a bullet hole in the man’s chest and administered first aid, but the man was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The bystander – James Hanna, 59 – died from a single gunshot to the chest.
Her sister Susan Bandola said her brother had recently moved into the apartment in central Edmonton after becoming the on-site manager of the building.
Bandola said Hanna was sitting in a chair facing the television when he was struck. Bandola said an autopsy report she obtained showed the bullet that hit Hanna exploded the base of her hand, passed through her left lung, hit her heart and landed in her right lung.
ASIRT said several bullets eventually went through the wall and into his apartment.
Hanna’s autopsy revealed that the bullet recovered from his chest was a 5.56 caliber bullet, which matched the bullets fired from the officer’s two rifles.
However, ASIRT said it was not possible to determine which of the two rifles fired the bullet that hit Hanna.
“(Hanna) being shot was completely unintentional and her death is extremely tragic. The subject officers used lawful force against (the suspect) and clearly fired without intending to strike him.
anyone except (him),” the report said.
Criminal negligence causing the death was considered as part of that investigation, but ASIRT said there was no evidence an errant bullet struck Hanna.
The suspect’s autopsy revealed 12 gunshot wounds to his body: two abrasion wounds, eight through and through, and one wound that came in, out, and out again.
“It is possible that a bullet passed through (the suspect), entered (Hanna’s) apartment and then struck him,” the report states.
“As a result of the above, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the offense of criminal negligence causing death was committed. »
ASIRT Executive Director Michael Ewenson ultimately stated that the circumstances did not warrant charges of criminal negligence because the officers’ conduct was considered reasonable, given the circumstances and the fact that in a life or situation situation death, the police had only seconds to react. make decisions.
“With hindsight, time for detached reflection, and knowledge of the end result, it is easy to speculate about how things might have been done differently,” Ewenson’s report on the use of force said. .
“This, however, is not the standard against which an officer’s conduct is measured. The question is, applying the principles of proportionality, necessity and reasonableness, whether the force used falls within a range of possible reasonable responses.
Nearly three years after the fatal shooting, Ewenson said after a thorough, independent and objective investigation into the officers’ conduct: “I find that they were lawfully placed and that they acted properly in the exercise of their duties. functions. There is no evidence to suggest that they engaged in any illegal or unreasonable behavior that could give rise to a criminal offense.
Ewenson noted that Hanna’s death was a tragedy, and added that questions such as whether her death could have been prevented through changes in areas such as policy and training are outside the mandate of ASIRT and are instead investigated through processes such as death investigations.
Hanna’s sister, Susan Bandola, retained a personal injury lawyer, Norm Assiff, and two years ago said she planned to file a lawsuit after the publication of the ASIRT report.
On Wednesday, Assiff said Bandola was angry about the findings but was unable to make further comments.
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