MLA blasts ASIRT, government for not naming attackers
Concerns over Alberta’s police watchdog ’s reluctance to identify those responsible for two separate attacks on Calgary police officers has spilled into the provincial legislature.
And the head of Calgary’s police union is incensed over expressions of condolence made by a provincial cabinet minister toward the perpetrators of the attacks, both dead in the wake of two separate attempts to kill city police officers.
Calgary-West MLA Mike Ellis raised the issue during question period on Thursday, asking the government if the public was entitled to know the names of those responsible for two recent attacks on city police — the would-be carjacker who opened fire on two police officers in Abbeydale on March 27, and Monday ’s attempted armed robbery of a plainclothes member eating lunch while parked in an unmarked cruiser in Bridgeland.
Const. Justin Forget, one of the officers involved in the Abbeydale shooting, was shot when the gunman opened fire.
As both offenders died in the wake of their attacks — the body of the Abbeydale shooter was found in a burned-out garage at the scene of the gun battle, while the 26-year-old assailant in Bridgeland was shot dead by the officer he attacked at knifepoint — ASIRT, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, publicly stated it won’t release their names.
“Given that ASIRT has refused to release the name of the shooter, and that in making this decision, it cited an interprovincial agreement not to cause trauma to the deceased’s family and given that in a contradictory twist the name of the officer shot was made public — minister, why is ASIRT keeping the name of the deceased a secret?” Ellis asked Community and Social Services Minister Irfan Sabir.
“What about the emotional trauma of the police officer who was shot? What about his feelings and his family?”
On Friday, an ASIRT news release identified the Abbeydale gunman only as a 25-year-old resident of British Columbia.
In the agency’s Thursday release on the Bridgeland incident, ASIRT cited policy and “respect for the man’s family and loved ones” in its decision to withhold the man’s name.
“Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the deceased,” Sabir responded to Ellis’ query, ostensibly referring to the attackers.
“That was an operational decision made by the police, and they make those decisions on a caseby-case basis. They ’re the experts. They’re the people on the ground. We work with them and provide them the supports so that they are able to do their work, and we will keep supporting them.”
Sabir’s expression of condolence for those who attempted to kill Calgary police officers was disappointing to Ellis — himself a former Calgary Police Service downtown patrol sergeant before pursuing politics. “It was a little surprising, considering we have some heroic officers — one who was shot, and another who saved his life while under fire,” he said, speaking with Postmedia on Friday.
“These are real people facing real-life situations — these officers are facing adversities that, quite frankly, no one can really understand unless you’re a police officer who’s been in these situations.”
Echoing statements made Thursday by the Calgary Police Association, Ellis said both the public and the police officers who serve them deserve to know details about the attacks.
“It’s so important, in the interest of the public, to know not only who this person is, but the circumstances surrounding what happened,” Ellis said.
“Is this person a repeat offender? Is this person out on bail? That has been a critical fail here in our justice system for a number of years.”
While Thursday ’s ASIRT release described the Bridgeland attacker as a recent parolee released with conditions prohibiting weapons possession, Friday’s Abbeydale statement made no mention one way or another of any criminal history.