ASIRT clears policeman who killed shotgun-wielding man in west Edmonton

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team cleared an EPS officer after a fatal shooting in April.

An Edmonton police officer who shot and killed a man during a firearms call in west Edmonton last month has been cleared by the province’s law enforcement watchdog.

And video surveillance played a major role in determining the policeman was in the right on April 15 when he shot and killed the 36-year-old man who was brandishing a sawed-off shotgun.

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Officers had been called to an area near 163 Street and 97 Avenue after a person called police April 15 to report a man had pointed a gun at another person in a home’s yard.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) in a media release Thursday said the officer acted lawfully and had reason to shoot the man near 98 Avenue and 156 Street.

The man died in hospital.

ASIRT Executive Director Michael Ewenson wrote in the report released Thursday the officer’s “use of his firearm in this incident was solely dictated by” the 36-year-old man’s actions.

“There is no evidence to support any belief the (the officer) engaged in any unlawful or unreasonable conduct that would give rise to an offence,” Ewenson wrote, referencing a section of the Criminal Code of Canada that pardons a person who acts to defend themselves if they have “reasonable grounds” to believe force is being threatened against them.

“(He) was clearly defending himself from an individual pointing a firearm directly at him in a public place.”

Eweson wrote external security cameras “played a significant role” in ASIRT’s investigation of the shooting, saying they captured the moments leading up to and including the shooting.

The footage showed “the force used” by the officer was reasonable, he wrote.

ASIRT has closed the investigation.