Death of man at centre of police shooting will be investigated by ASIRT

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is investigating the death of a man at the centre of a police shooting in the northeast Calgary community of Abbeydale on Tuesday.

According to a news release from ASIRT, the incident is considered an "in-custody death" because the suspect was contained in a garage by police before he was found dead.

ASIRTsaid Calgary police were responding to an armed robbery, attempted carjacking and attempted break and enter at a home when the incident started.

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"While searching for a suspect, officers heard the sound of glass breaking and saw smoke coming from a detached garage. As CPS members approached the garage, someone fired shots at the officers, striking one of them," reads the release.

"CPS members returned fire and moved the injured officer to cover."

The injured officer has been identified asConst. Jordan Forget, a five-year member of the Calgary Police Service. He was listed as being in stable condition on Tuesday.

The head of the police union, LesKaminski, said incidents like Tuesday's shooting are more common in Calgary than people think.

"We attend the kind of calls the guys were at yesterday on a regular basis. The way this one turned out is a little more rare, but that type of high risk, high frequency call, it happens daily in Calgary. So, that we haven't had any bad incidents, that's just by the grace of god," he said.

Kaminski said he can't go into detail because the incident is under investigation, but he said officers handled the situation admirably.

"I think this highlights how dangerous the work can be. How unpredictable it can be. And what the consequences could be. And of course they could have been a lot worse, but when you boil it down to its essence, we deal with some really bad people doing some really bad things that not a lot of people want to have to deal with."

After the Calgary Fire Department put out the garage fire, they found a man dead inside.

The cause of death is not known at this time and the identity of the dead man has not been released.

An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday.

Residents impacted by the events in Abbeydalecan access supports through the Calgary Police Service's victim assistance program for free.

Those needing helpcan reach the program by calling403-428-8398or1-888-327-7828.

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