No charges after Lethbridge officer repeatedly ran over deer in January

The Lethbridge police officer who repeatedly ran over a deer will not face any charges, Alberta’s police watchdog said on Wednesday.

On Jan. 5 at around 10:10 p.m., the Lethbridge Police Service received a call that an injured deer was in the northbound lane of Scenic Drive and 16 Avenue S. A few minutes later, police received another call about the deer, saying it “looks broke” and the deer was described as dying on the road.

According to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), it was a busy night and no officers were able to take the call at first. Once the officer arrived on scene, he attempted to find out whether the vehicle that was involved in the collision was still on scene. When he realized the vehicle was gone, he turned his attention to the deer.

WATCH: Video shows disturbing incident of a police officer running over a deer multiple times with his police vehicle. WARNING: This video contains graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.

3:46 Disturbing video shows Lethbridge police officer repeatedly running over wounded deer

“When the officer responded to the call, it was apparent that the animal was suffering and that both policy and common sense required that the officer euthanize the deer to end its continued suffering,” the news release said.

ASIRT said the officer had to consider potential benefits of using a weapon to euthanize the deer. It listed the possibility of ricochet given the placement of the deer, the lack of a safe backdrop, the immediate proximity of homes, apartments, high traffic and the public and an inability to safely ameliorate the risk as reasons why the officer could not have used a firearm to kill the deer.

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“The officer’s decision to prioritize the very real risk of potential injury to a person over the deer will always be the correct one,” ASIRT said.

WATCH: Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) executive director Sue Hughson responds to criticism of a Lethbridge police officer who drove over a deer to euthanize it.

4:13 ‘This case is an opportunity to look at how we handle injured wildlife’: ASIRT

However, ASIRT admits that the officer using the vehicle to repeatedly run the deer over didn’t work as intended.

“The deer’s ability to move and the inability of the officer to clearly see where the vehicle tires were in relation to the critical organs of the deer, frustrated the attempts to cause fatal injury,” it said.

Erica Pritchard was driving in the area with her father the night the deer was killed and shared a cellphone video she took with Global News.

“Hearing the deer screaming every time he ran over it was shocking,” she said at the time.

The 15-minute video depicts the animal shrieking as the officer repeatedly ran it over.

WATCH: Erica Pritchard describes how she and her father witnessed a deer get hit by a car and then watch a responding police officer repeatedly use their vehicle to dispatch the deer. WARNING: Video contains graphic details. Viewer discretion is advised. 

3:21 Witness recounts horrifying scene as officer repeatedly runs over injured deer

Backlash against the officer and the police service was swift in Lethbridge and across the country.

On Jan. 12, about 100 people protested outside the Lethbridge Police Service. By 2 p.m. that afternoon, an online petition demanding the officer be fired had received over 66,000 signatures. As of 1 p.m. on Wednesday, over 96,000 had signed the petition.