Man killed by police on Boxing Day fired gun, ASIRT says
Madeleine Cummings | CBC News | Posted: December 29, 2018 12:43 AM | Last Updated: December 29, 2018
Friend says Buck Evans was a good man who leaves behind a young son
A wanted man fired a gun before he was killed by police on Boxing Day in southeast Edmonton, Alberta's police watchdog said Friday.
In a news release, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) said during a traffic stop, police told the man to get out of a vehicle but he refused.
The man was sought in connection with an ongoing investigation and wanted on outstanding warrants.
"The 34-year-old man was given verbal directions to exit the vehicle which he failed to comply with," ASIRT said.
"Independent evidence gathered to date would suggest that the man was in possession of a firearm and that the firearm was, in fact, discharged by the man.
"Multiple officers discharged their firearms. The man was wounded during the incident and was transported to hospital where he was pronounced deceased shortly after 2:45 p.m."
The man has been identified by people who knew him as Edmonton resident Buck Evans.
- Girl's bedroom wall pierced by bullet in deadly Boxing Day shooting
- Fatal shooting by Edmonton police under investigation by ASIRT
Video captures more than 30 gunshots
Dustin Waterston was visiting his mother at her condo on Wednesday when he said police lights flashed by their window. When he went out to the balcony to investigate, he saw police vehicles surrounding a red Chevrolet SUV near the Urban Village condo complex and at least five officers with guns drawn.
Waterston took out his phone to record the scene.
Just over a minute into the video, what sounds like a hail of gunfire — more than 30 shots — rings out in the condo parking lot.
"Far too many as far as I'm concerned," Waterston told CBC News.
"It's one thing for cops to get the bad guys, or whatever you want to call them, but it's the fact that they were shooting towards the apartment building."
Friend says victim was trying to change
Diane Delorme, Evans's friend and former girlfriend, said she was shattered by the news of his death.
"I was in deep shock," she told CBC News on Friday. "It totally broke me."
She said Evans had a history of criminal activity, but he was a good person who "wanted to change."
Delorme said she became friends with Evans about five years ago and started dating him in March. He moved in with her in June, but the relationship ended and they parted ways in November. They reconciled recently, she said, and had been in touch on Boxing Day morning, planning to meet up later that day.
She said Evans had been in and out of jail since he was 17, but he told her he wanted to give up criminal activity so he could gain custody of his only child — a five-year-old boy.
Delorme said Evans's mother, who has custody of her grandson, is grieving and hopes there will be a memorial for her son.
'They didn't have to shoot'
Delorme said she did not ask Evans what he planned to do on Boxing Day before their meeting.
"A lot of his activities remain unknown to me and maybe I didn't want to know," she said.
Delorme questioned why the incident had to end in the death of her friend.
"I'm sure the police were doing their job, but they didn't have to shoot, did they?"
ASIRT continues to investigate the incident.