Investigative unit releases details in 2 Alberta men’s fatal shootings by RCMP

Flag of Alberta (Photo by User:Kooma – EMBLEMS OF ALBERTA ACT, Public Domain)

An agency that investigates police says two Alberta men who were fatally shot by RCMP officers last week appeared to be sleeping or unconscious.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team says RCMP discovered a vehicle early last Thursday that was parked facing the wrong way on a road in Gleichen, about 95 kilometres southeast of Calgary.

It says the lone occupant of the vehicle, a 26-year-old man from Morley, Alta., had a homemade weapon made to resemble a shotgun.

In the other shooting, also last Thursday, police approached a man in a stolen vehicle on the side of a range road between Stettler and Red Deer.

ASIRT says a struggle ensued and the man put the vehicle in reverse, hit one of the officers with the driver’s door and rammed a cruiser, sending it into a ditch and causing it to roll.

The agency says two of the three officers fired their service weapons, causing fatal injuries to the 33-year-old man.

The officer who was hit by the door was not seriously injured.

ASIRT’s investigations continues and no further information will be released until the reviews are concluded.