Man shot by officer has history of violence, weapons offences
A man shot by city police Monday after brandishing a rifle in the middle of a busy intersection had a warrant out for his arrest and was subject to a lifetime firearms prohibition, court records show.
Glenn Justin (Occo) Ironchild, 36, was critically injured in the Clareview neighbourhood after an officer responding to multiple calls of a gunman near 137 Avenue and 50 Street opened fire just after 11:30 a.m. Monday.
Ironchild, taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital with gunshot wounds, was listed in critical condition.
The province’s police watchdog, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, has taken over the investigation, but acting Edmonton deputy police chief Darren Derko said when the 10-year member and a new recruit arrived on scene, the man took aim at them and the senior officer shot him.
Court documents obtained Tuesday show Ironchild’s ban on possessing weapons relates to a court appearance on July 18, 2012, where he was convicted of assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm and threats to cause death.
Ironchild was sentenced to seven months in jail, less five months for time served, and was also given two years’ probation.
As well as the firearms ban, court documents show that he was wanted on an active warrant for breaching conditions after failing to show up for a court appearance Jan. 10.
Ironchild’s history with Edmonton police also includes a 2008 case where he pulled a knife on a store clerk and later put it to his own throat before an officer stunned him with a Taser.
Ironchild was charged with assault with a weapon and possession of an offensive weapon.
Aggravated assault and robbery charges were stayed against Ironchild after he was accused of being part of a group of six people who in 2002 attacked another group of teens who were lured to a basement suite for a party.
Shortly before Monday’s shooting, a post on Ironchild’s Facebook page said: “My phones gonna die but ima show something g you haven’t seen before…. Prepare.” In another post during the same period, a three-minute video shows Ironchild in a bathroom holding a rifle and showing a bullet and talking into the camera.
On Tuesday, the Edmonton Journal confirmed that during the shooting, a bullet struck the windshield of an Edmonton Transit Service bus that had come to a stop at the intersection. No one on the bus was injured.