Man dead after officer-involved shooting in Bridgeland

The plain clothes Calgary police officer who shot and killed a man in Bridgelandlate Monday identified himself and feared for his life when he fired the fatal shots, says the head of the Calgary police union.

"I'd like to say we're very fortunate we're not talking about going to a police funeral today," Calgary Police Association presidentLes Kaminski told reporters on Tuesday.

"This officer tried to de-escalatethe situation as best he could. This offender knew that he was dealing with a Calgary police officer and he voiced his intention to kill him. The officer was forced to have to take drastic measures."

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The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT)has been called in to investigate.

At around 11:30 p.m., Calgary police say plainclothes officers were in the area of Second Avenue and Sixth Street N.E., when there was a confrontation between an officer and a man who is alleged to have been armed.

According to police, an officer fired his weaponduring the confrontation and the suspect, a man in his late 20s,died at the scene.

The officer, who has been on the force for more than 11 years,was in an unmarked police vehicle and ona break at the time, said Acting Deputy Chief Steve Barlow.

The officer isnow on a 30-day administrative leave, which is standard in this type of situation, said Barlow.

"While we are aware of the circumstances that are believed to have surrounded the encounter, the service is not at liberty to provide details or explain the use of force at this time, in order to protect the integrity of the ASIRT investigation," he said.

Police later said the man killed by the officer has been identified andwas known to them.

This is the second fatal officer-involved shooting in the city in less than a month. On March 27, an suspect armed robbery suspect shot at police in the northeast community of Abbeydale, injuringConst. Jordan Forget.

The suspect died at the scene.

Two days later, a Calgary man wanted for first-degree murder died after a shootout with RCMPnearEdmonton. An officer suffered minor injuries.

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