Watchdog clears Saskatchewan officer who killed homicide suspect in police station

ESTEVAN – A Saskatchewan officer won’t be charged after a routine police booking turned into a gunfight, leaving an officer down and a homicide suspect begging to die.

The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team, in a report released Thursday, said the officer had an “undeniably reasonable” fear of death or harm after the 19-year-old suspect grabbed a gun from another officer and shot him.

“The force employed by the (officer) … provides no grounds to believe that (he) committed any Criminal Code offence,” the agency’s executive director, Greg Gudelot, said in his written decision.

The report says it all began in the early morning of Nov. 1, 2023.

Police arrived at a home in Estevan, about 200 kilometres southeast of Regina, where 46-year-old Karie Ann Guillas had been stabbed. Her son — the only other person in the home — was drenched in blood. The woman was rushed to hospital and later died.

The son was taken to the city’s police station and put up in a private room to call a lawyer. As one officer guarded the door, another took several photos of the man and gave him a change of clothes.

The man was told to take off his bloodstained hoodie to put in an evidence bag. The report says once he pulled it off, he tossed it onto a table. One of the officers reached across for the hoodie, exposing the pistol holstered on his belt.

The suspect grabbed it.

“He has my gun!” the officer shouted.

The officer guarding the door rushed in. There was a struggle between the three of them, but the suspect kept hold of the gun.

“He has it,” one of the officers said. 

Then, the suspect shot a single round at the abdomen of an officer, knocking him to the ground. As the officer got back on his feet, the man, who was pinned against a wall, fired a second shot. A bullet hit another wall.

As the suspect started lowering the gun, the other officer fired two shots into the man’s torso, knocking him to the ground. The officer managed to get one handcuff on the suspect.

“Just finish me,” the man said.

“Shots fired, officer down,” the officer barked into his radio.

The wounded officer and suspect were flown to hospital, where the man, who had methamphetamine and cocaine in his system, died during surgery. The officer was treated and released after several days.

The watchdog said there are no grounds to believe a crime was committed and the case will not be referred to Saskatchewan’s attorney general for charges.

It did not comment on best practices for dealing with suspects or whether any policies were violated by the officer whose gun was taken.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2025.

— By Aaron Sousa in Edmonton