Calgary officer cleared in fatal 2018 Christmas Day shooting of woman: ASIRT

An investigation into the fatal shooting of a driver by a Calgary officer on Christmas Day 2018 has found serious breaches of policy made during the response, but the officer's actions were ultimately justified.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), a police watchdog organization, released its findings Friday into the Dec. 25, 2018 police response where a woman was shot three times in the head while in her Honda sedan.
Family of the deceased woman identified her to CTV News as Stacey Perry.
ASIRT says the 30-year-old woman had been the subject of a police investigation into erratic driving near Inglewood shortly before midnight on Dec. 24 following her release from hospital. The driver continued on, and ran red lights, when two separate police units attempted traffic stops. A supervisor advised against pursuing the car. A HAWCS crew tracked the suspect vehicle from above for more than 20 minutes before being called off for another call.
A 911 call made just before 2:20 a.m. reported a suspected drunk driver travelling into oncoming traffic on Falconridge Boulevard near 64th Avenue N.E Officers located the car minutes later, determined it was the same suspect vehicle from before, and pursued it into Saddleridge and onto southbound Stoney Trail.
The slow-speed pursuit on Stoney Trail, with speeds below 60km/h in a 100 km/h zone, ended after the car exited at McKnight Boulevard.
ASIRT says the acting staff sergeant authorized the use of a box-in maneuver by four units at 2:35 a.m. to bring the car to a stop, despite the fact that only one of the responding CPS members, a sergeant, had been trained on vehicular intervention techniques.
The suspect car's progress was stopped when four police vehicles surrounded the suspect car from the front, rear, driver's side and passenger's side.
CPS units along McKnight Boulevard, between Stoney Trail and 68th Street N.E., on Christmas Day 2018 following a vehicle pursuit that ended with the fatal shooting of Stacey Perry.
The two officers in the unit on the driver's side of the suspect vehicle both exited their patrol vehicle through the passenger door which was closest to the suspect. The vehicle they had been in was not parked close enough to the suspect vehicle and, when the suspect attempted to accelerate and drive off, one of the officers was pinned between the door and frame of their unit and lifted off the ground.
The officer who had been the passenger in the unit on the driver's side of the suspect vehicle fired three shots at the suspect from close range and all three shots struck the driver in the head.
The injured woman's foot remained on the accelerator post-shooting, and remained on the pedal until another officer broke the passenger window and managed to stop the car.
The pinned officer was freed and, according to ASIRT, was not injured.
ASIRT says the officer who became pinned should have stayed in the driver's seat of the unit, with their foot on the brake, during the maneuver to ensure the box around the vehicle stayed in place.
An autopsy confirmed the suspect died as a result of the gunshot wounds to her head and a toxicology examination found cocaine and benzodiazepine in her system.
"The subject officer’s conduct should be judged through the lenses of his training and the situation in which he was placed," said ASIRT officials in their report into the actions of the officer who shot Perry. "Based on that and the whole of the evidence, notwithstanding the heartbreaking outcome, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the subject officer committed any offence. The subject officer reacted to the immediate risk of serious injury or death to his fellow officer presented by the woman.
"While she was likely in some state of distress, that does not change the situation on the ground in that moment nor the risk she presented to the trapped officer."
In its report, ASIRT adds that there were "serious breaches of CPS policy that led to that dire situation" but that the issue of policy breaches is for CPS to address.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Global Affairs reports Canadian killed in Lebanon in connection with Israel-Hamas war
Global Affairs is reporting the death of another Canadian due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. This is the ninth casualty connected to Canada.
This Canadian couple used surrogacy to have a child. Here's what they want you to know
Families that need help conceiving a child are met with financial burdens that should be covered through government health care and insurance, advocates say.
From COVID-19 to alien contact, conspiracy theories are popular in Canada: survey
The Earth is flat. We have been secretly contacted by intelligent beings from other planets. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did not land on the moon in 1969. They may sound like bizarre statements, but a new poll suggests a sizable number of Canadians believe in these and other conspiracy theories.
Renowned Quebec entrepreneur, partner reported dead in Caribbean
Quebec entrepreneur Daniel Langlois and his spouse Dominique Marchand have died in their adopted home of Dominica, in the Caribbean, a source has confirmed.
Renowned Canadian musician and former April Wine singer Myles Goodwyn dead at 75
Myles Goodwyn, the award-winning Canadian singer and songwriter who shot to stardom as the former lead singer of April Wine, has died at age 75.
Backlash continues following Moncton’s decision to not display the Menorah this year
Outrage seen from the community and across the country online after the news broke Friday that the City of Moncton would not display the Menorah this year.
Canada issues updated travel advisory for Guyana amid border dispute referendum in Venezuela
Amid a referendum that will see Venezuelans asked about the future of a chunk of neighbouring Guyana that Venezuela currently claims ownership over, Canada has adjusted its travel advisory to warn against travelling in Guyana near the border.
Another inmate dead at notoriously harsh Newfoundland jail, officials confirm
An inmate has died at Her Majesty's Penitentiary in Newfoundland, one of the oldest operating provincial jails in the country, officials with the provincial Justice Department confirmed.
Commercial ships hit by missiles in Houthi attack in Red Sea, U.S. warship downs 3 drones
Ballistics missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels struck three commercial ships Sunday in the Red Sea, while a U.S. warship shot down three drones in self-defence during the hourslong assault, the U.S. military said. The Iranian-backed Houthis claimed two of the attacks.