Deadly confrontation
Man dead, RCMP officer hurt after shootout with police on Alberta highway
EDMONTON - A 27-yearold man is dead after being shot in a Wednesday confrontation with police on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway near Leduc, Alta.
An RCMP officer suffered serious, non-life-threatening injuries in the roadside shooting that followed a police pursuit from Blackfalds where a woman had earlier been shot.
Mounties were initially seeking a man for a firearms complaint at a home in the Blackfalds neighbourhood of Rolling Hills when he opened fire around 8:15 a.m. toward police vehicles, RCMP said in a news release Wednesday afternoon. A woman who was in the area was shot and hospitalized with a serious gunshot wound.
Police said the man then fled in a vehicle northbound on the QEII, travelling more than 100 kilometres toward Leduc. Officers at one point deployed a spike belt to deflate the tires before the vehicle crossed the median but it continued to travel north.
The man was then killed after a “brief confrontation” on the road, just north of the Highway 2A exit, RCMP said.
Alberta’s police watchdog, ASIRT, is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
National Police Federation president Brian Sauvé told Postmedia in an email the injured police officer is in good spirits and is expected to make a full recovery. He was rushed to hospital after being shot, escorted by Edmonton Police Service officers.
Steve Hutchison was alerted to the scene in his south Leduc home by the police helicopter circling above around 9:30 a.m.
He went outside his home that backs onto the highway and saw what looked like a traffic stop with two to three police cruisers flashing their lights to pull over a vehicle, Hutchison recalled. So he went back inside.
“As soon as I stepped in the door, I started hearing gunshots. About six in a row,” he said. “I went right back outside and saw two officers with their guns drawn standing over somebody.”
Hutchison said he didn’t hear any more gunshots after the initial exchange and one of the police officers dropped down to perform CPR.
The town of Blackfalds took to social media early Wednesday morning warning residents about police activity in the area and asking residents to lock their doors and stay in the basement. Just after 10 a.m. the RCMP tweeted there was no longer a threat to the public.
The north and southbound lanes on the Edmonton to Calgary commuter highway were closed for several hours at the Highway 2A exit as police investigated. Paramedics and fire crews were also on scene. A tent with a tarp underneath was visible at the side of the road.
Drivers heading north were diverted to Glen Park Road and motorists travelling south were to exit at Highway 39 Leduc. Semi-trucks were asked to exit at Airport Road.