An investigation has found that a Picture Butte RCMP officer used reasonable force in a 2022 incident. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

RCMP officer cleared in Picture Butte shooting

Nov 14, 2024 | 2:08 PM

PICTURE BUTTE, AB – There will be no sanctions against an RCMP officer who was involved in a shooting.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has completed its review of a matter that occurred in Picture Butte on February 24, 2022.

On that day, the local RCMP detachment received a request to apprehend a person under the Mental Health Act. Three officers attended a home in the community.

After arriving at the house, the report states that a resident emerged from the home and came onto the front enclosed porch with what appeared to be a lever action rifle.

The resident reportedly told the officers to leave the property and pointed the gun at them.

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One officer drew his service pistol and fired two rounds at the resident, forcing the resident back into the home.

According to the report, it was not clear to the officers whether the resident had been hit by the gunfire or not.

Later that evening, members of the RCMP Emergency Response Team (ERT) arrived and began a nearly six-hour standoff that included the use of chemical munitions to get the resident out of the house and surrender.

“During the standoff, [the resident] pointed the lever action rifle at the officers within an armoured vehicle that was outside the residence and he was seen on the remote robot’s camera to try to fire rounds at the robot. It was believed that the rifle jammed and caused no injury to anyone,” reads a portion of the report from ASIRT.

Just before 3:00 a.m. that night, the resident emerged from the side of the house with a shovel in both hands. The resident was intercepted as he allegedly tried to flee.

The officers learned after apprehending the resident that they had been shot in the upper left chest and that the round exited their body through the left side of their neck.

The resident was taken to hospital and Lethbridge to be treated for the gunshot injury and an injury to their leg from the police service dog.

The resident remained in hospital and was held under the Mental Health Act for 30 days.

It was later determined that the resident actually had a BB gun, not a rifle.

ASIRT Executive Director Michael Ewenson wrote in his report that police officers are justified in using as much force as is reasonably necessary when they have reasonable grounds to do so.

“After a thorough, independent, and objective investigation into the conduct of [the subject officer], it is my opinion that he was lawfully placed and acting properly in the execution of his duties,” says Ewenson. “The force used was proportionate, necessary, and reasonable in all the circumstances. As a result, there are no grounds to believe that an offence was committed.”

The full report is available on the Government of Alberta website.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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