Edmonton police officers' guns not used to shoot man during incident last weekend: ASIRT

UPDATE: In a decision released on Oct. 9, 2024, ASIRT concluded that the man died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and that a projectile recovered from his body was consistent with a .22-calibre bullet.

"There are no reasonable grounds, nor reasonable suspicion, to believe that any of the officers on scene committed an offence(s)," ASIRTexecutive director Michael Ewenson said in the decision.

A man who died after sustaining a gunshot woundduring an altercation with Edmonton police was not shot with the officers' firearms, evidence gathered by Alberta's police oversight agency suggests.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating how a 50-year-old man diedon July 3 after an incident with police in a west-central Edmonton back alley.

Patrol officers found the manlying underneath a parked vehicle with a saw around 5:45 a.m. that day. He ran from the officers when they approached him and a confrontation ensued in a nearby backyard.

The man may have fired several gunshots toward police during the incident, whileone of the police officers used a stun gun. But at some point the 50-year-old was shot and later died in hospital,ASIRT said in a news release.

Physical evidence gathered so far suggests neither officers' gun was fired during the incident. A handgun found at the scene was seizedas evidence, however, therelease said.

An autopsy conductedlast Thursday andevidence gathered from the backyardsuggest the man was shot by the seized handgun, said ASIRT.

The teammight normally release a photo of weapons found at a scene, but this particular handgun was identified as "potentially relevant" to other open investigations, so it's being withheld, said ASIRT.

The investigation into last weekend's incident is still underway.

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