Saskatoon shootout raises safety concerns
Using lethal force is a SASKATOON last resort for officers in the field, Saskatoon’s acting police chief says, but when a man discharged a firearm in the middle of the afternoon after refusing to go peacefully into custody, officers appeared to have cause to return fire.
“Certainly this individual posed a significant threat to the public as well as our officers … there’s no option to just stay there and let him go,” said acting police chief Mark Chatterbok on Thursday, about 24 hours after officers were involved in a foot pursuit that included shots fired in the city’s downtown.
The police investigation covered not only multiple city blocks but also a downtown office, after a bullet came through a window and blasted shards of glass in Collins Barrow PQ LLP’s unoccupied boardroom.
The initial contact between police and the man consisted of dialogue and trying to take him into custody “but the commands were not followed at that time,” Chatterbok said. “The incident happened very quickly.”
Officers were responding Wednesday around 3 p.m. to the 200 block of Fourth Avenue South after a report of a car theft in progress. Police located a suspiciouslooking man in possession of what appeared to be a long metal pipe but turned out to be a firearm, Chatterbok said.
Police first tried to talk the man into custody. When that did not work, police deployed a conducted energy weapon — commonly known as a Taser — and then several beanbag rounds.
Seconds later, the man fired a shot at officers, Chatterbok said. At that point, police switched to what Chatterbok called “lethal force” and returned fire.
A 34-year-old man was taken by ambulance to hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. The man suffered a gunshot wound, possibly to the shoulder, as well as injuries consistent with dog bites. The canine unit was involved in the foot pursuit, Chatterbok noted.
No officers were seriously injured during the incident.
Employees at Collins Barrow PQ LLP were shaken by the shooting. The accountancy firm’s manager, James Wankel, said investigators recovered the slug and interviewed witnesses in the office.
Chatterbok said Thursday morning he was “not aware of a bullet going through an office building,” but police spokeswoman Kelsie Fraser later confirmed investigators inspected the scene and collected evidence “consistent with a bullet.”
No one in the office was injured, Wankel said.
Fraser said it was not yet clear if the shot was fired by police or the suspect.
“There were definitely some pretty frightened people,” Wankel said.
“I don’t know if the one that went through the window was before we had all run to the middle (of the office, away from the windows) or if it was one of the ones that we heard when I was just kind of getting into the building.”
Wankel on Thursday said he and his colleagues were feeling better than they did following the shooting incident — productivity was not a high priority Wednesday afternoon, he added — and everyone is happy there were no injuries.
“It was scary, for sure. I think today people are a lot better. I mean, it’s still pretty crazy that that happened right outside our window here.”
Chatterbok felt officers at the scene “used a great deal of restraint” while responding to a “dangerous situation.” Chatterbok said he did not know how many officers returned fire or the total number of shots fired.
A loaded weapon with a live round in the chamber was recovered at the scene, Chatterbok said, describing the weapon as an “improvised firearm.”
According to police, the man is expected to face several charges, two of which are possession of a weapon dangerous to the public and careless use of a firearm. Patrol, major crimes, guns and gangs and the canine units have “been working diligently” to piece together the timeline of events.
“Certainly this individual posed a significant threat to the public as well as our officers,” Chatterbok said.
“Whenever a firearm is deployed … there’s concern for public safety and officer safety.”
Chatterbok said he preferred not to compare the shootout on Wednesday with similar incidents, such as the Jan. 10, 2015, car chase that resulted in police shooting at least six rounds at a man holding a replica air pistol on 22nd Street but failing to hit him.
A Saskatoon police superintendent told the StarPhoenix this summer it is “rare” for officers to use firearms, and it is important not to second-guess their decisions until an investigation is completed.
The officers involved in the shooting are on administrative leave until an investigation — which began Wednesday and involved third-party oversight and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice — is completed, Chatterbok said.