Family of Edmonton man killed by police launches lawsuit against officers, police chief

The family of an Edmonton man who was shot and killed by police have filed a more than $1 million lawsuit against four police officers and the city's police chief.

The statement of claim filed August 23 alleges the shooting death of Mathios Arkangelo, 28, in a northeast Edmonton neighbourhood was "unnecessary, unreasonable and without lawful justification."

On June 29, Arkangelo was involved in a car crash and walked away from the scene, according to the lawsuit.

Police have previously said a search began, and security video shows Arkangelo walking around a nearby neighbourhood when a police vehicle approaches him. An officer exits the vehicle and draws his gun.

There is no audio on the video, but Arkangelo can be seen putting his hands up, holding what his family has said was a pocket knife that he used for work.

In the security video, Arkangelo moves forward and multiple shots are fired by the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officer. 

After he falls to the ground, other officers arrive on the scene and later begin first aid. Arkangelo later died.

The lawsuit alleges that police Chief Dale McFee contributed to Arkangelo's death by failing to ensure four officers, identified in the lawsuit as John Doe #1, #2, #3 and #4, were given proper training.

"The conduct of the defendants…in causing the wrong death of Mathios was a marked departure from the ordinary standards of decent behaviour," reads the statement of claim.

"The egregious, high-handed, and cruel nature of those defendants' conduct pled herein warrants aggravated and punitive damages to signal the court's denunciation of their wrongful acts and omissions."

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating the shooting death.

"The family didn't want to wait. They wanted to get on with it as quickly as possible," said family lawyer Tom Engel when asked why the Arkangelo family pursued this legal avenue.

"ASIRT is going to take, on average, it'll take two years for them to reach a result. They don't want to wait for that."

Since the shooting, Arkangelo's family has been outspoken, appearing at community rallies and calling for accountability.

"There's grief, anger but they're also motivated to try and affect change. I think they've been channelling their grief and anger into trying to make a difference," Engel said.

While the officer who shot Arkangelo had been placed on leave after the shooting, the officer has returned to active duty after completing the EPS reintegration program, police said last month.

The family is seeking more than $1 million in damages, including bereavement damages, funeral expenses and counselling damages, loss of dependency and income damages and aggravated and punitive damages.

In a statement to CBC News, EPS spokesperson Cheryl Sheppard said the police service is aware of the statement of claim and is reviewing it.