Investigation clears Calgary officer in 2021 shooting incident

Bullet holes in a stolen Nissan Altima in a 2021 incident. An investigation cleared a Calgary police officer of wrongdoing. (Photo: ASIRT)

A Calgary officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing in a September 2021 incident that involved shots being fired at a suspect in a stolen vehicle.

The Alberta Serious Incident Report Team (ASIRT) released a report Thursday about an early morning chase in the early hours of Sept. 1 involving the pursuit of a man driving a stolen Chevrolet Malibu.

After being identified around 1:40 a.m., a CPS officer (Subject Officer) drove up behind the affected person (AP), prompting him to drive away. A HAWCS helicopter followed the suspect, who fled at high speeds of over 80 km/h through a residential neighbourhood, from overhead.

Five minutes later, the suspect switched cars, getting into a stolen Nissan Altima, driving at speeds of up to 150 km/h in a 60/70 km/h zone, sometimes with the lights off.

Shortly after 2:30 a.m., the suspect stopped in the middle of 18 Street close to Riverview Close S.E.. With the HAWCS helicopter overhead, a police van stopped three lanes away from the Nissan, which was parked on the road.

The officers started to drive away from the Nissan, which prompted the suspect to make a U-turn and follow the police vehicle, at speeds of up to 150 km/h, until it was able to pull up next to the police vehicle on the driver’ s side and eventually drove in front of them, at which point one officer said, “He just pointed a gun at us.”

The Nissan cut sharply in front of the police vehicle toward the exit ramp to Glenmore Trail, causing the subject officer (SO) to fire four shots.

That prompted the suspect to drive away, with police following at a distance.  The suspect fled the vehicle a minute later, running into a nearby home at 2:39 a.m., where he remained until he surrendered, uninjured, at 3:21 p.m. at which time he was arrested.

Police recovered no firearms in the residence.

The stolen Nissan Altima had two bullet holes and one dent in it from the four shots fired.

In an interview, the suspect said he had been using methamphetamine that night. He was aware he was being followed by a police helicopter and said that when he saw the police van, he drove up to them intending to surrender.  

He said he didn’t point a gun at them and when the subject officer fired at him, he got scared and ran into his house.

He was eventually charged with a variety of offences and pled guilty to uttering threats and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. He was sentenced to 231 days in jail, along with a firearm and driving prohibition.

Investigators said the evidence supported the suspect's contention that he had no weapon, but that it was reasonable, given the circumstances, for the subject officer to believe a gun was being pointed at him.

ASIRT investigators found that the officer responded reasonably and proportionally and, “as a result, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the subject officer (SO) committed an offence.”