ASIRT findings in death of police officer’s killer expected next week
Delays in finalizing findings into the circumstances of the death of a suspect who killed Edmonton police Const. Daniel Woodall in 2015 are an “anomaly” and “unacceptable,” says the head of the province’s police watchdog.
Friday marks three years since Woodall was shot while serving a criminal harassment warrant at a southwest Edmonton house as part of a lengthy hate crimes investigation against Norman Walter Raddatz, 42.
Woodall, 35, was shot multiple times and died at the scene, police said at the time. A second officer, Sgt. Jason Harley, was wounded.
As police responded to the shooting, flames engulfed Raddatz’s home. He was later found dead in the basement. An autopsy concluded he died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), which investigates all incidents involving police that result in serious injury or death, was immediately tasked with probing the incident to determine if police conduct caused Raddatz’s death, and, if so, if that conduct was lawful.
Three years later, those findings haven’t been released, but in an email Thursday, ASIRT executive director Susan Hughson said her agency has completed its investigation and that a decision has been made. She said she expects to release the findings next week after letters have been sent to the affected parties.
Asked about the delay, Hughson said her agency is grappling with “competing priorities in a climate where the workload has tripled,” among other challenges, such as needing to prioritize investigations that relate to cases before the courts that need to meet time deadlines for getting to trial.
Hughson said ASIRT’s intention is to shorten timelines on all files, citing a recent report by retired Court of Queen’s Bench chief Justice Neil Wittmann, which estimated an average delay of 14 months for an ASIRT investigation.
She said she is hopeful ASIRT’s current backlog will be cleared by early September, as the agency was recently able to hire an additional lawyer, which has created “significant efficiencies.”
Another reason for the lengthy timeline in the Woodall case was that the public was already told Raddatz shot himself.
“As such, the public has already been made aware that no direct police contact with the affected person caused his death. This has lessened the time pressures to some extent,” Hughson said.
ASIRT was created in 2008 and assigned 21 cases in its first year of operation. In 2017, it took on 80 cases, according to its website.