Sask. police watchdog says a single spent shell casing found after fatal standoff

We're learning more about what happened prior to a man's death last week in the community of Onion Lake Cree Nation on the border of Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Saskatchewan’s police watchdog is revealing new details about a man who died following a standoff with police on the Alberta side of the Onion Lake Cree Nation Wednesday.

Police believed the 42-year-old man was holding his former partner hostage at gunpoint when they received the first of a series of calls leading them to surround a home on the First Nation, which is located in Saskatchewan but serves the cross-border community.

In a news release Monday, the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) said a woman was able to exit the home around 9 a.m., but the man remained inside.

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The RCMP sent in its tactical team and crisis negotiators as police settled in to a standoff, working for multiple hours to coax the man outside.

According to SIRT, police fired tear gas into the home in the mid-afternoon. When the man did not leave, they approached the house and saw he was injured inside, prompting a call to the civilian police investigator just before 4 p.m.

Police pulled him from the home and administered first aid. He was pronounced dead at the scene before 5 p.m. Three firearms, including a rifle with a spent shell casing in the chamber, were recovered at the scene and entered as exhibits in the investigation, SIRT says.

The police watchdog says six investigators were deployed to Onion Lake to gather evidence. They’ll examine the conduct of police during the standoff and the circumstances surrounding the man’s death, with a final report expected within 90 days after the investigation concludes.

RCMP will continue to investigate the original complaint.

SIRT is called in any time someone is seriously injured or killed during a police operation, or when an on or off-duty officer is accused of sexual assault or domestic violence.

While the RCMP detachment is located in Saskatchewan, the incident occurred across the Alberta border and police have also notified Alberta’s SIRT, which sent three investigators to the scene.