Calgary officer cleared in fatal shooting of man in midst of 'breakdown'

There was no wrongdoing when a man in the midst of a mental health crisis was killed by a Calgary police officer, according to an investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.

The incident took place on Jan. 27, 2018, when officers received multiple calls about a man in distress in a southwest apartment building.

It was to be the last in a string of calls to police that started days earlier as the mental health of the 43-year-old deteriorated in the wake of a brain injury in 2015. 

The man had been assessed and discharged from hospitals three times in the days leading to the fatal encounter. 

Fatal night

On that fatal night, the man had gone to a pub with another resident of the building and was acting erratic, eventually getting kicked out of the pub after only one drink, ASIRT says.

Once back at the apartment building, another concerned resident of the building called 911 saying the man was having a "meltdown," according to ASIRT. Shortly after, the resident who walked to the pub with the man also called 911 and said his friend was having a "breakdown."

"He advised that the man had previously suffered a brain injury and he was worried that he would harm himself," reads the ASIRT news release on the findings. 

The lead up

According to the findings released Wednesday, officers arrived on the scene and tried talking to the man through his apartment door, attempting to get him into the hallway. 

"The man ultimately acknowledged the officers' presence from inside the suite, when he said words to the effect of, "So what, it's the police," says the release. 

"The officer continued to encourage the man to come out to speak with him, saying he was concerned about his welfare. At one point, the officer thought that they had persuaded the man to come out; however, shortly after, he became more agitated, and based on what the officers could hear, resumed smashing things in the apartment."

Officers decided to back off and wait for EMS to arrive. They decided to let the man calm down and surrender voluntarily under the Mental Health Act, according to the findings. 

One of those officers parked in the rear of the building, next to the man's truck.

Rushing the police

"The lone officer could see the man moving in the apartment but could not see specifically what he was doing," reads the release. 

"What sounded like something being broken and plastic ripping was heard just before the man came out onto his balcony holding what appeared to be a long silver knife in one hand and what was described as an axe in his other hand. The officer indicated that the man began randomly talking about weapons and killing 'lots' of people."

Another officer rushed to the rear of the building with his gun drawn. 

According to the findings, the man climbed onto the ledge of his balcony and jumped down to the parking lot with an axe in his hand. 

"The second officer told the man to drop the axe. The man responded, 'No, I'm going to cut your f--cking head off.' The man began very deliberately and quickly advancing on the second officer," according to ASIRT.  

"In the words of the civilian witness, the man 'rushed' the officer. As he did so, he repeated the words 'shoot me, shoot me' as the officer ordered him three or four times to drop the weapon/axe and to stop."

The man continued to advance, according to ASIRT, and the officer fired a single shot that twisted the man around and sent him to the ground. 

The aftermath

EMS provided emergency care on scene and the man, who was conscious, was taken to hospital, where he underwent surgery. 

He died at 2 a.m.

ASIRT says a small axe, a kitchen knife and another black-handled knife were all found at the scene. Two additional knives — a folding knife and a throwing knife — were "removed from the man's clothing" following the shooting. 

ASIRT concluded the officers on the scene tried to de-escalate the situation and calm the man down, but in the end were confronted with a situation that was "clearly criminal and life-threatening."

"In the circumstances, viewing the incident as a whole, the officer's use of lethal force, made only upon the man's rapid advancement on the officer, while armed with an axe and a knife or knives, accompanied by threats to kill, was reasonable and justified," it found.