ASIRT investigating after Edmonton police fatally shoot man

Article content

Alberta’s police watchdog is investigating after a 28-year-old man was fatally shot by Edmonton police on Saturday.

At around 9:24 p.m., city police were called to the scene of a single vehicle rollover collision involving an impaired driver near Anthony Henday Drive and 153 Avenue, police said in a Saturday news release.

Witnesses told police a man emerged from the vehicle and fled the scene on foot toward the Fraser neighbourhood in northeast Edmonton. Police said a “confrontation” broke out between the man and responding officers that led to an officer firing a service pistol, fatally shooting the man.

Article content

The man was treated on scene by paramedics and taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries where he later died.

No officers were physically injured during the altercation, police said, adding the man had not been detained by police at the time of the shooting.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has taken over the investigation.

ASIRT is in charge of investigating incidents where police kill or seriously injure people, as well as serious allegations of police misconduct.

Cops cleared in fatal 2020 shooting: ASIRT

ASIRT has cleared two Edmonton police officers of any wrongdoing after police shot and killed an armed man in September 2020.

On Sept. 18, police received multiple complaints about a man armed with a loaded sawed-off shotgun in the backyard of a north Edmonton home near 68 Street and 118 Avenue. A similar complaint was made about man carrying a shotgun in an alley near the Eastglen Motor Inn.

Officers went to the home first where they found a man sitting in a lawn chair holding a shotgun over his lap. The officers instructed the man to drop the gun and raise his hands but he did not comply, ASIRT said, and instead raised the gun in the direction of the officers.

Article content

Article content

“At that point, both subject officers discharged their respective firearms, hitting the (man),” ASIRT executive director Michael Ewenson said in a written decision released Thursday. “The officers noted the (man) was no longer moving and EMS was called, but it was clear that (man) was deceased from being shot.”

A 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun with a single round in the chamber was recovered on scene, ASIRT said. Eight additional loose shotgun shells were located in one of the man’s pockets, and a fully loaded magazine containing five rounds, along with one additional loose shotgun shell, were located in another pocket.

ASIRT investigators spoke with a number of witnesses, including the man’s sister who told police he had been self-medicating with alcohol since his wife’s suicide a month prior. She also said the man made previous statements of wanting to commit suicide.

The man was under three lifetime bans prohibiting him from possessing firearms and ammunition. Police and ASIRT did not identify the 48-year-old man who was shot, but family identified him as Marty Powder.

Article content

“After a thorough, independent, and objective investigation into the conduct of the subject officers, it is my opinion that they were lawfully placed and acting properly in the execution of their duties,” Ewenson said.

“The force used was proportionate, necessary, and reasonable in all the circumstances. As a result, there are no grounds to believe that an offence was committed.”

trobb@postmedia.com

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.

Article content