The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has cleared six police officers in connection with a March 2024 standoff that ended with a man dead after firing on Calgary police and RCMP tactical units.The standoff began on March 14, 2024, when Calgary Police Service tactical officers attended a home to execute a firearms search warrant. The affected person (AP) fled into the basement, refusing repeated police attempts to negotiate his surrender over the following 30 hours. During the standoff, the AP fired at an armoured police vehicle and later at RCMP emergency response vehicles. He also threatened to use a grenade on officers and civilians.The AP emerged from the basement around 8:30 p.m. on March 15, 2024, armed with a shotgun, wearing body armour, and carrying a live grenade. Multiple officers fired at him as he ascended the stairs. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Autopsy results confirmed 12 gunshot wounds as the cause of death..ASIRT’s investigation included interviews with the six subject officers, seven additional police officers, 32 officer reports, civilian witness interviews, and review of body-worn camera footage, drone and helicopter video, radio transmissions, and phone calls between the AP and crisis negotiators.Investigators also oversaw forensic examinations of the residence and police vehicles.ASIRT concluded that the officers acted lawfully under sections 25 and 34 of the Criminal Code.Their use of force was deemed proportionate, necessary, and reasonable given the AP’s repeated threats, use of firearms, and the danger posed to officers and civilians.The AP had also ignored gas deployments, negotiator efforts, and other less-lethal means designed to secure a peaceful surrender, including flooding the basement via a fire hose.Civilian witnesses described the AP as highly agitated and determined not to return to jail, with one telling police he would fight to survive and likely not make it out alive.Police repeatedly attempted to encourage surrender, including offering food and cigarettes and maintaining negotiation over the 30-hour siege.ASIRT found no grounds to believe the officers committed an offence in discharging their firearms. The investigation reaffirmed the legal protections afforded to officers in the use of deadly force when facing imminent threats to their own safety or that of the public.
