‘You were supposed to kill me’: Watchdog clears Alberta RCMP in parking lot shooting

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EDMONTON - Charges won't be laid after Mounties shot and injured a man who walked up to a detachment with a BB gun and a death wish, says Alberta's police watchdog.

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EDMONTON – Charges won’t be laid after Mounties shot and injured a man who walked up to a detachment with a BB gun and a death wish, says Alberta’s police watchdog.

The shooting happened in July at the detachment in Sherwood Park, east of Edmonton, and sent a 54-year-old man to hospital.

In a decision released Tuesday, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, or ASIRT, says the man had a suicide note and planned to point the realistic-looking gun at officers so they would shoot him.

An RCMP collar tab pin is seen in Edmonton, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
An RCMP collar tab pin is seen in Edmonton, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

“They acted reasonably and there are no reasonable grounds to believe that any of the subject officers committed an offence,” Matthew Block, acting executive director for ASIRT, says in the report.

The report says it was early morning when an officer spotted a vehicle parked in a secure area at the detachment. She saw the man in the driver’s seat with a gun and radioed those inside to warn them.

A second officer, in an unmarked vehicle in the parking lot, drove up to the man, jumped out of the car and drew his firearm, says the report.

“Hey man, what are you doing?” the officer yelled.

Three more officers came running with pistols drawn, and a fourth pulled out a carbine rifle.

“Stop! Get on the ground,” one officer yelled at the man.

The man, drawing his weapon, walked quickly towards an officer and pointed the gun, says the report.

Officers fired their guns a dozen times, with two rounds hitting a nearby firehall and two hitting police vehicles, the report says. The man was shot multiple times, fell to the ground and dropped the gun.

Officers handcuffed the man before calling paramedics.

“You were supposed to kill me,” the man told police.

The report says the black, imitation pellet gun closely resembled a real pistol. 

Investigators also found two notes alluding to suicide. One apologized to officers and “hoped they could overcome any trauma induced.”

The man told investigators he planned to die that day and bought the gun so officers would shoot him.

“He said he was sorry,” Block says in the report.

Block said the man knew officers could be traumatized and made the detachment feel less safe for officers.

Mounties have said further security measures have been implemented at the building.

The man was charged with using an imitation firearm for an indictable offence, assault with a weapon and assaulting a peace officer. He is set to appear in court later this month.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.

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