Witness accounts are painting a chaotic picture of the moments after an Edmonton police officer shot and wounded a 35-year-old man in an industrial area in the city’s north side Thursday evening.
“We had three staff members on; they had closed down,” said Dave Greenfield, the owner of Windsor Plywood, located near where the shooting occurred. “One of them had left and the other two were still here.
“They lock the gate and arm it right here and they heard, ‘Pop! pop!’ Police had been chasing somebody down right here.”
Local mechanic David Elder said he heard loud sounds as well.
“I poked my head out and the officer said, ‘Maybe you should go back inside.'”
The man who was shot is now recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery. Police said he remains in stable condition.
Police said the suspect shot on Thursday was wanted on an outstanding warrant and that officers were in the process of trying to arrest him for “two breaches.” They also said the suspect was “being investigated for potential threats against the Edmonton Police Service.”
According to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), which is now investigating police actions regarding the incident as well as what led up to them, officers began to follow the suspect’s vehicle after they came upon it and determined the driver was suspected of threatening police.
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ASIRT said the officers briefly lost sight of the vehicle and when they spotted it again, it was parked with nobody inside. They said officers found the man on foot near 128 Avenue and 54 Street, after which an “encounter” unfolded that ended up with an officer shooting the man, who fell to the ground. ASIRT said officers immediately gave the man first aid until he could be taken to hospital.
Neither police nor ASIRT have provided details on the incident that occurred between the suspect and police.
Moments after the shooting, Jim Elder was driving a forklift back to his shop.
“I come around the corner and I saw a big guy laying on the ground with two other people,” he said, adding plainclothes police officers asked him to park and go inside.
“The place was just packed with cop cars everywhere and taped off everywhere,” David Elder said.
Windsor Plywood employees were later taken in for questioning.
The incident marked the third time this month that an Edmonton police officer has shot someone, in one case killing the suspect. ASIRT is investigating all three shootings.
READ MORE: Man with firearm shot by Edmonton police; second police shooting in 5 days
The civilian oversight agency is called in to investigate incidents involving Alberta law enforcement officers that result in injury or death, as well as “serious or sensitive allegations of police misconduct.”
– With files from Sarah Kraus
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