Evidence suggests the man shot and killed by Edmonton police on Wednesday afternoon had fired a gun during the officer-involved shooting, Alberta’s police watchdog said on Friday.
The 34-year-old man, whose girlfriend has identified him as Buck Evans, had outstanding warrants and was believed to be armed and dangerous, according to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.
READ MORE: Girlfriend of man fatally shot by Edmonton police speaks: ‘We were surrounded’
Watch below: (From Dec. 27, 2018) The girlfriend of the man shot by police in southeast Edmonton on Wednesday speaks to Global News about the incident. Sarah Kraus reports. WARNING: Disturbing content.
In a news release, ASIRT said police were trying to arrest the man and that his vehicle was located shortly before 2 p.m. Officers followed it to the area of 71 Street and 79 Avenue into an apartment building parking lot where they tried to conduct a “high-risk arrest.”
“A man and a woman exited the vehicle when it came to a stop and were subsequently arrested,” ASIRT said.
At that point, ASIRT said Evans was given verbal directions to exit the vehicle but he failed to comply.
“Independent evidence gathered to date would suggest that the man was in possession of a firearm and that the firearm was, in fact, discharged by the man,” the police watchdog said.
Several officers fired their guns and the man was wounded before being taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2:45 p.m.
Nobody else was injured in the incident.