Saskatchewan

Police watchdog agency provides update on Sask. RCMP's fatal shooting of suspect

Saskatchewan’s police watchdog is releasing more details about the shooting death of a man on the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation on the weekend.

SIRT says SWAT team shot man once after confrontation on Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation  

The side of a police car is shown
Saskatchewan’s police watchdog says a member of the RCMP's SWAT team shot once and killed a man on the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation on the weekend. (CBC)

Saskatchewan's police watchdog is releasing more details about the shooting death of a man on the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation on the weekend.

According to the Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), RCMP were called to a home on the First Nation Sunday at about 6:45 a.m. CST. Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation is about 80 kilometres northwest of Prince Albert.

SIRT says the officers found a woman, 27, who had been assaulted with a machete. She was taken to hospital, but there's no word on her injuries.

Two officers went to a second location where they found the 31-year-old man believed responsible. SIRT says there was some kind of confrontation, and the officers retreated and called for backup.

The man came out several times over the next hour and had verbal exchanges with police. Multiple other units arrived.

Then, about two hours later, they say there was another confrontation with police. At that point, a member of the RCMP's SWAT team shot once and killed the man, SIRT says.

There's no indication the man was armed at the time of the shooting.

The initial RCMP news release indicated an officer was also wounded during this incident, but SIRT is offering no update on how that person was injured or how seriously.

SIRT says its investigation will examine the conduct of police during this incident, including the circumstances surrounding the man's death. It says a final report will be issued to the public within 90 days of the investigation ending.