A Calgary officer is exhonerated after shooting a man in a truck who backed into a house and threatened the cop with a BB gun. Police watchdog, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), investigated the matter to determine if the officer-involved shooting was on reasonable grounds. ASIRT interviewed three civilian witnesses, four Calgary Police Services (CPS) officers who were first to respond to the call, and CPS tactical unit officers. The watchdog also reviewed radio, police car and body cam footage from the CPS and private home surveillance footage from the neighbourhood. CPS responded to a 4:08 a.m. call February 8, 2023 from someone who said a “giant truck is backing up and hitting our house.”.Two officers arrived on the scene where there was a truck idling in the driveway, with a man sitting in the driver’s seat. The police put the lights and sirens on and parked “a short distance away.”Two more officers arrived two minutes later and they approached the truck, with the lights from the first vehicle acting as a spotlight. One officer aimed his flashlight at the truck and yelled, “Driver!” as they both approached to within one metre of the vehicle. According to eye witness accounts from all four officers present, the man in the truck produced “what appeared to be a handgun” and pointed it at the two officers outside. The bodycam footage of one of the officers on the driveway “shows a black object appear in front” of the driver. “Gun!” yelled one of the officers outside, and ducked away for cover. The other officer outside drew his firearm and aimed it at the truck. He fired the weapon twice, standing in front of the other police car. The driver was shot in his right side, “causing significant damage to his ribs and minor damage to his spine.”“All four officers then took cover behind police vehicles,” the ASIRT report reads, while reinforcements arrived on-scene. The CPS armoured rescue vehicle with tactical officers came and they “disabled the truck and used a gas canister” to get the man to exit the truck. He was then treated for his injuries and transported to the hospital. There was what “appeared” to be a handgun inside the truck. It turned out to be a fake gun, “an imitation of a Sig Sauer P226 handgun,” complete with plastic BB pellets. “Testing showed that the velocity it fired at was capable of causing serious bodily injury,” the report states. Because he pointed it at the police, “the Criminal Code classifies this weapon as a firearm.”.The man said he “intended to commit ‘suicide by cop’ that day,” ASIRT said. “He planned the event and brought his imitation Sig Sauer P226 airsoft gun and a knife.”“After hitting the house with the truck, he waited for police to arrive. He confirmed that, when the officers were approaching the truck, he pointed the airsoft gun at them and pulled the trigger three times.”The man with the BB gun said “the officer has, in my view, every right to fire in his defence.” He wasn’t trying to hurt anyone and he felt remorseful, according to the report. The officer who shot the man “provided a full account of the incident that was consistent with the above,” the report states. “He recognized that it was a threat to his life and others.”ASIRT wrote under section 25 of the Criminal Code, “police officers are permitted to use as much force as is necessary for execution of their duties.”“Where this force is intended or is likely to cause death or grievous bodily harm, the officer must believe on reasonable grounds that the force is necessary for the self-preservation of the officer or preservation of anyone under that officer’s protection.”“The force used here, discharging a firearm repeatedly at a person, was clearly intended or likely to cause death or grievous bodily harm.”The officer “must have believed on reasonable grounds that the force he used was necessary for his self-preservation or the preservation of another person under his protection.”
A Calgary officer is exhonerated after shooting a man in a truck who backed into a house and threatened the cop with a BB gun. Police watchdog, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), investigated the matter to determine if the officer-involved shooting was on reasonable grounds. ASIRT interviewed three civilian witnesses, four Calgary Police Services (CPS) officers who were first to respond to the call, and CPS tactical unit officers. The watchdog also reviewed radio, police car and body cam footage from the CPS and private home surveillance footage from the neighbourhood. CPS responded to a 4:08 a.m. call February 8, 2023 from someone who said a “giant truck is backing up and hitting our house.”.Two officers arrived on the scene where there was a truck idling in the driveway, with a man sitting in the driver’s seat. The police put the lights and sirens on and parked “a short distance away.”Two more officers arrived two minutes later and they approached the truck, with the lights from the first vehicle acting as a spotlight. One officer aimed his flashlight at the truck and yelled, “Driver!” as they both approached to within one metre of the vehicle. According to eye witness accounts from all four officers present, the man in the truck produced “what appeared to be a handgun” and pointed it at the two officers outside. The bodycam footage of one of the officers on the driveway “shows a black object appear in front” of the driver. “Gun!” yelled one of the officers outside, and ducked away for cover. The other officer outside drew his firearm and aimed it at the truck. He fired the weapon twice, standing in front of the other police car. The driver was shot in his right side, “causing significant damage to his ribs and minor damage to his spine.”“All four officers then took cover behind police vehicles,” the ASIRT report reads, while reinforcements arrived on-scene. The CPS armoured rescue vehicle with tactical officers came and they “disabled the truck and used a gas canister” to get the man to exit the truck. He was then treated for his injuries and transported to the hospital. There was what “appeared” to be a handgun inside the truck. It turned out to be a fake gun, “an imitation of a Sig Sauer P226 handgun,” complete with plastic BB pellets. “Testing showed that the velocity it fired at was capable of causing serious bodily injury,” the report states. Because he pointed it at the police, “the Criminal Code classifies this weapon as a firearm.”.The man said he “intended to commit ‘suicide by cop’ that day,” ASIRT said. “He planned the event and brought his imitation Sig Sauer P226 airsoft gun and a knife.”“After hitting the house with the truck, he waited for police to arrive. He confirmed that, when the officers were approaching the truck, he pointed the airsoft gun at them and pulled the trigger three times.”The man with the BB gun said “the officer has, in my view, every right to fire in his defence.” He wasn’t trying to hurt anyone and he felt remorseful, according to the report. The officer who shot the man “provided a full account of the incident that was consistent with the above,” the report states. “He recognized that it was a threat to his life and others.”ASIRT wrote under section 25 of the Criminal Code, “police officers are permitted to use as much force as is necessary for execution of their duties.”“Where this force is intended or is likely to cause death or grievous bodily harm, the officer must believe on reasonable grounds that the force is necessary for the self-preservation of the officer or preservation of anyone under that officer’s protection.”“The force used here, discharging a firearm repeatedly at a person, was clearly intended or likely to cause death or grievous bodily harm.”The officer “must have believed on reasonable grounds that the force he used was necessary for his self-preservation or the preservation of another person under his protection.”
