Shooting of Alberta sheriff raises questions about safety in smaller courthouses

EDMONTON – An Alberta sheriff who was shot in the hand during an escape by prisoners at a courthouse northwest of Edmonton will be able to return to work following Tuesday’s shooting in Whitecourt.

Alberta’s Justice Minister and Solicitor General Jonathan Denis says there will be a review into what happened at the courthouse Tuesday.

“We will have our own internal investigation to see what could have been done, if anything, to prevent this casualty,” Denis said Wednesday.

Denis said he has spoken to the sheriff, who is in hospital in Edmonton waiting for surgery on his hand. However, Denis declined to discuss the specifics of what happened, because the matter is still under investigation by the RCMP.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, meanwhile, plans to launch its own investigation to ensure something similar doesn’t happen in the future.

Clarke McChesney with AUPE specifically expressed concerns about the province’s smaller courthouses.

“They aren’t equipped the same as these supercentres like in Calgary and Edmonton with body scanner things, and different types of preventative measures,” he explains.

McChesney adds that there can be other “monumental” differences between smaller courthouses and those in larger cities. For instance, officers aren’t always posted in smaller courthouses.

“The smaller centres – just on the fact they’re small and not used as often – we just have to improvise more, I believe, at these locations to get the jobs done,” he says. “It almost feels like that in the smaller locations, that the security features aren’t beefed up as they are in the larger centres. And that speaks to internal funding. But when events like this happen, all those things have to be looked at.”

Lynden McBeth, who works for XM 105 FM, was in the courthouse on Tuesday morning when the terrifying ordeal happened.

“Just a little while after 11:30 (a.m.) there was some commotion in the prisoner room, where people waiting to make their appearance were being held, and the sheriff who was in the courtroom, he ran in the back and as soon as that prisoner door closed we heard ‘bang bang,’ multiple shots, he says.

“The courtroom immediately evacuated, and when I say evacuated, I mean people were actually fleeing because they thought their lives were in danger.”

The suspects fled in a sheriff’s van and were later arrested after about 10 kilometres away.

Whitecourt Mayor Trevor Thain has said the suspects were in court on drug charges, which were laid following a drug bust last Thursday.

Two Whitecourt men are facing charges as a result of Tuesday’s shooting.

29-year-old Clayton Ness and 22-year-old Jake MacIntyre have both been charged with numerous offences including robbery with a firearm, assault with a weapon, escaping lawful custody, and two counts each of aggravated assault.
 

With files from Fletcher Kent, Global News and The Canadian Press