POLICE CALL TURNS FATAL
‘Mental health crisis’ cited in shooting death
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is investigating what police call a “tragic” officerinvolved fatal shooting early Friday morning involving a man in his 20s who was dealing with mental health issues.
Police were called to the 2600 block of Country Hills Boulevard N.E. around 10 p.m. Thursday when concerns arose after an altercation occurred inside a gym.
“The people involved in the altercation had left the gym, but one man had continued circling the building in his vehicle and staff were concerned for their safety,” said acting Deputy Chief Ryan Ayliffe.
“Officers tried to reach out to the man through his family, and closed the gym in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, but after two hours in the area around the gym, the man drove off at a high rate of speed.”
Officers followed the man from a distance as he drove dangerously throughout Redstone and Skyview before stopping at his residence in Redstone.
Police said the man refused to leave his residence and appeared to be suffering from “a mental health crisis.”
Officers recognized that attempting to arrest the man could lead to a violent confrontation and determined disengaging him until the next day posed the least risk to the individual, the public and the responding officers.
His vehicle was towed to prevent what police called “further dangerous driving to protect the public” and officers left the man’s residence around 2:20 a.m.
Around 3:45 a.m., police received a noise complaint due to loud music coming from the man’s residence and reached out to him by phone. Officers patrolled the area to monitor the situation and encountered the man near the intersection of Redstone Drive and Redstone Street N.E.
Officers fired ARWEN rounds — a riot control weapon — then fired with a service pistol. An eight-year and six-year service member were involved.
Ayliffe said this was the first time the ARWEN had been fired by front line officers after the service rolled out its use in June.
The man was taken to hospital, where he later died.
The service has been in contact with the man’s family and said it is offering any support needed.
Ayliffe said police have had contact with the man before, but couldn’t comment as to what extent.
“Our officers have an incredibly complex and dynamic job — they’re continually evaluating every situa- tion as it presents itself, and when you add a person who is in crisis from mental health or any other reason, it compounds that dynamic,” said Ayliffe. “Our officers are dealing with things that are incredibly dangerous.”
Adding that every case is different, Ayliffe said the service felt it was necessary to provide as much detail as possible.
“Every case is different — in this instance, it was a case that was protracted and we felt it was important the amount of effort shown to try and make sure we de-escalated the situation at every opportunity,” said Ayliffe.
“The whole point to us serving the community is to make sure everybody’s lives are protected. There is no officer, no incident commander that wants to have the resolution to any conflict be loss of life.
“It’s a tragedy.”
As the conflict spanned two days and multiple attempts to resolve the situation, Ayliffe said, “We felt we could disclose some of it as it didn’t pertain to the event where officers discharged the ARWEN and their service firearm.”
Two knives were laying on the street at the scene of the shooting.
Members of the police forensic crime scene unit were examining evidence strewn across Redstone Drive on Friday morning.
Jason Guilbault lives in Redstone and says he was woken up by his dog, nervous and pacing from all the flashing police lights, at 4 a.m.
When he looked outside and saw about half a dozen police vehicles, he knew something serious had happened.
“With that many police officers, I knew there was probably a shooting,” Guilbault said.
“We’ve had a few here already, so I’ve seen that much police presence here before. I kind of figured right away it was either an active shooter or it just happened.”
Redstone resident Frederick Montilla wasn’t too surprised to see the police activity.
“I shouldn’t be shocked, there was a killing ... about (two) years ago,” he said of a gang-related double murder in the community in 2016.
“It seems like it’s every couple of years.”
Montilla was walking his young son to school when he found many streets in the neighbourhood were blocked off by police tape. Two orange police pylons could be seen on the road near the stop and officers were keeping residents away from the area.
A neighbour who lives less than a block away from the scene says he didn’t hear any shots, but woke up to police tape and flashing lights.
The man, who declined to be named, said he still feels safe in Redstone, even though this is the second shooting in the community in less than two years.
“Just because of all the multiplex houses that you see here, there’s lots of kids. So it always concerns me when such a thing happens in the community.”