Alberta police watchdog clears Edmonton officers involved in 2022 double fatal shooting

Edmonton police officers involved in the fatal shootings of two people, including an innocent bystander, were "lawfully placed and acting in the execution of their duties," according to Alberta's police watchdog. 

EPS officers shot Michael Potts, 36, on the evening of February 23, 2022 and he died from his injuries.

Potts was the suspect of an armed liquor store robbery that night. After not following multiple commands to drop what looked like a gun but turned out to be a replica gun, he turned toward police and pointed it in their direction. At the time, he had been standing in front of an apartment building on 105th Street, near 107th Avenue.

A stray bullet from one of the police officer's guns struck and killed 59-year-old James Hanna, who was sitting in his basement suite in the apartment building.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team investigated the shootings and concluded in a decision released Wednesday that there was no evidence that police officers engaged in any unlawful or unreasonable conduct that would give rise to a criminal offence.

Under Section 25 of the Criminal Code of Canada, police officers are allowed to use "as much force as is necessary" to enforce the law. If the force is meant to or could cause death or serious harm, the officers must believe it is necessary to protect themselves or anyone else from imminent or future death or serious harm.

"The officers were defending themselves from what they believed was imminent harm," said the ASIRT decision signed by executive director Michael Ewenson.

The decision said questions about whether Hanna's death could have been prevented through changes in policy, training, resourcing and equipment are not within ASIRT's mandate.

A fatality inquiry could examine such questions, the decision said.  

Norm Assiff, a personal injury lawyer representing Hanna's sister, Susan Bandola, said she is incredibly disappointed and angry about the ASIRT report. 

Bandola previously told The Canadian Press that her brother had recently moved into the apartment building after becoming its on-site manager. 

Assiff said the 13-page ASIRT report, which took nearly three years to be released, "leaves more questions than answers as to what happened."

According to the report, an autopsy revealed the bullet that ended up in Hanna's chest was consistent with those fired from two of the officers' rifles but it "could not be determined" which gun had fired the round.

Assiff said the family wants justice and filed a lawsuit against Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee and five police officers in November 2023, alleging negligence.

An amended statement of claim, filed in April 2024, accuses the officers of failing to or refusing to exhaust all other reasonable and less violent ways of responding to the incident, among other allegations. 

The allegations have not been proven in court.

The amended statement of claim says Hanna's family members have suffered depression, anxiety and other psychological injuries because of the incident. 

A statement of defence filed by two of the officers denies the allegations and says the threat the robbery subject posed "precluded the use of less lethal force." 

McFee's statement of defence also denies the allegations, saying the police chief had no personal involvement with the events described in the statement of claim. 

In a statement Wednesday, officials with the Edmonton Police Service offered their condolences to Hanna's family. 

"The EPS also appreciates ASIRT's thorough review of this incident, and its support of our officers in the findings that they were lawfully placed and assessed the public safety risks appropriately given the circumstances," police said. 

"Knowing the use or presence of an imitation firearm was a root of this tragedy, reinforces the need to remind Edmontonians that officers cannot tell if a firearm is real or fake, but the consequences of their improper and threatening use can be tragic, as they were here."

The Edmonton police Professional Standards Branch will review ASIRT's decision to determine if there is a need for an investigation under provincial police regulations, police said.