Alberta police watchdog probes Leduc shooting that left man dead

The RCMP says Alberta’s police watchdog will investigate officers’ actions after a man died of his injuries in Leduc when he was shot by a member of the Edmonton Police Service on Thursday.

In a news release, the RCMP said the events leading up to the shooting began when Mounties first learned about a “suicidal individual with a firearm outside of the Leduc detachment” at 11:23 p.m. on Wednesday.

The RCMP said that in an effort to find the man, resources from other RCMP detachments were deployed to the area, as well as members of the EPS and that police department’s helicopter.

According to the RCMP, the EPS helicopter spotted a vehicle believed to be associated with the man “and containment was established.”

Police said Mounties were able to make contact with the man and tried to de-escalate the situation, but that a “confrontation” then occurred between the man and EPS officers, “resulting in at least one EPS officer discharging a firearm.”

Police said the man, 63, of Leduc County, was injured in the shooting and then died as a result of his injuries.

“A firearm was located with the suspect,” the RCMP said.

2:16 Leduc sees major police presence at road closure

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has now been tasked with conducting an independent investigation looking into what happened. The RCMP said it will also conduct its own internal review.

Edmonton police chief Dale McFee explained that the EPS is sometimes called in to assist RCMP and vice versa, which is what happened Wednesday night.

“As a police officer in Alberta you have the authorities throughout the province. The RCMP, we assist them on many things in relation to emergencies and they assist us,” McFee said.

“When they require assistance in an emergency, we go out and we obviously deal with that accordingly.”

McFee said the EPS will cooperate fully with ASIRT’s investigation.

“These things are difficult… on anybody, including the members involved,” McFee said.

“Nobody wants what happened to happen… You hate to see that type of outcome but I’m confident that they will be thorough in the investigation.”

Global News has reached out to ASIRT for more information about what happened.

At about 10:30 a.m., a tow truck was seen removing a red pickup truck from 45th Street. It was not immediately clear how or if the truck was involved in the incident.

A spike belt was seen outside a City of Leduc operations building on 56th Avenue. RCMP confirmed a spike belt was deployed but did not provide further details.

A major police presence was seen on a road in Leduc on Thursday morning as Mounties redirected traffic away from the scene.

“Leduc RCMP are advising that traffic on 45th Street between 54th Avenue and 61st Avenue in Leduc is currently being redirected in both directions due to an ongoing investigation,” police said in a news release issued shortly after 5 a.m.

Just after 11:30 a.m., the RCMP said officers had left the scene and that “normal traffic flow has resumed.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 for immediate help.

For immediate mental health support, call 988. For a directory of support services in your area, visit the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention at suicideprevention.ca.

Learn more about preventing suicide with these warning signs and tips on how to help.