Woman shot by RCMP last month was armed, ASIRT says

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team released this image of an object that was dropped by a woman who was shot by police on Feb. 12, 2023. (Pen in photo included for scale) (Supplied)

A woman who was shot by police on a rural highway east of Calgary last month was armed with what appears to be a knife.

The details of the investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) were released on Wednesday, suggesting that the victim was suffering a mental health episode at the time police confronted her.

ASIRT is the unit engaged whenever an individual is injured or killed during the course of an Alberta police officer's regular duties.

In this case, which took place on Feb. 12, a woman was stopped by RCMP on Highway 564 after the Calgary Police Service had been contacted by her family members, who said she was threatening to kill herself.

The CPS HAWCS unit was monitoring the vehicle as it drove east of city limits.

"The (affected person's) vehicle (was) travelling at very excessive speeds and crossing over into oncoming traffic, causing other motorists to take evasive action," ASIRT said in a release.

When RCMP responded, officers decided to use a spike belt to stop the woman's vehicle and was successful, but when she stopped, she got out and ran at an officer with an object in her hand.

ASIRT says the officer retreated, but when the woman tried to get into a police vehicle, a conductive energy weapon was used.

"(It) failed to stop them," the statement reads, adding the woman charged the officer again, the object still in their hand.

That's when the officer opened fire, hitting the woman and causing her to fall to the ground.

ASIRT says the entire interaction was captured on the HAWCS camera as well as the RCMP officer's vehicle camera.

The object dropped by the woman at the scene appears to have been a folding knife.

The woman was treated at the scene and then taken to hospital.

The ASIRT investigation is ongoing.