Officers cleared in death of man who killed mother and child at Crawford Plains School: ASIRT

Edmonton police shot a man who is believed to have stabbed a woman and her child on May 5, 2023.

Alberta's police watchdog has cleared two officers who shot and killed a man they say killed a mother and child near Crawford Plains School in May 2023.

The man was shot by both officers while they were investigating the stabbing of 35-year-old Carolann Robillard and her 11-year-old child on May 5.

In a report released Friday, ASIRT said the officers, working in separate cruisers, found the 33-year-old man three blocks from the school, on 12 Avenue.

Both officers said they had heard about the stabbing over the radio, knew it was fatal and knew the description of the man suspected.

ASIRT said the man was carrying two large hunting knives and a can of bear spray when he was found by the first officer.

When that officer stopped and got out of his cruiser, ASIRT said the man ran at him spraying bear spray. Then, he moved toward the officer making "grunting sounds" and screaming with the two knives.

Believing the man to be the person who stabbed the mother and child nearby, the officer said he drew his gun. Before he fired, a second responding officer fired four shots at the man with a carbine rifle from behind.

According to ASIRT, the second officer had arrived to see the man yelling and spraying bear spray. He fired when he saw him advancing with the knives, saying the first officer was out of sight and he couldn't know if he had been incapacitated by the spray.

The man didn't fall to the ground after the first shots and continued toward the first officer, ASIRT said. That's when the first officer shot him once with his handgun.

The man was hit multiple times, including once in the head, and was taken to hospital.

ASIRT said medical staff determined he would not survive his injuries, and he was taken off life support and died on May 10.

Civilian testimony supported the officer's accounts of the shooting, ASIRT's report said.

It found the man had presented a "lethal threat" almost immediately, and that the officers were justified in shooting him.

"(The first officer) was faced with an individual that was armed with a large knife, who was advancing towards him in a brisk fashion. There is no doubt that the knife (the man) was wielding was capable of causing death or grievous bodily harm," the report read.

"There is no evidence to support any belief that either officer engaged in any unlawful or unreasonable conduct that would give rise to an offence."

History

Police said the man was the one to kill Robillard and her child, but the man's name was not released and he wasn't charged because he died in hospital.

An autopsy report showed multiple illicit drugs in his system, a previous psychiatric admission to a Calgary hospital and prescriptions for mental health illnesses.

EPS said the attack at Crawford Plains School was random, and that the man had been known to police dating back to 2009.

After the killings, EPS Chief Dale McFee said the man had a history of mental health issues, including "at least" four attacks on minors.

Until two days before the attack, he had been facing assault charges for attacking a man on a scooter the previous month. Those charges stayed.