A semi-automatic, tactical-style shotgun was recovered from the scene of a shootout between RCMP and an armed 27-year-old man on Highway 2 near Leduc this week, that ended in the suspect’s death and a Mountie being seriously injured.
That was one of the details released by the Albeta’s police watchdog agency on Friday. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team said it’s still investigating, but revealed some new information about what it believed happened in a news release.
The incident began Wednesday morning in a central Alberta town and ended south of Edmonton on the province’s busiest highway.
ASIRT said RCMP responded to a gun complaint at a home in Blackfalds, located about 15 minutes north of Red Deer, at about 8:15 a.m, after a man allegedly fired shots from the home, seriously injuring a woman.
According to ASIRT, police officers never fired a shot at that scene and the man left the home in a black BMW sedan. The driver’s side windshield of an unmarked RCMP vehicle appears to have been damaged during the initial incident.
RCMP later found the car headed north on the QEII Highway and ASIRT said “a brief pursuit ensued.”
“RCMP deployed a tire-deflation device, damaging the tires on the fleeing vehicle but not immediately rendering it inoperable,” ASIRT said. “The BMW sedan crossed the median and began travelling northbound in the southbound lanes of traffic on QEII.”
ASIRT said video of the incident captured by a marked RCMP vehicle shows the BMW stopped on the highway near Leduc at the Highway 2A overpass, where it was surrounded by police vehicles.
“The 27-year-old man was the vehicle’s lone occupant,” ASIRT said.
“He exited the vehicle armed with a firearm, which he immediately raised and pointed at police. Both the man and police officers briefly exchanged gunfire.”
According to ASIRT, the injured suspect fell to the ground, and it became apparent an RCMP officer was seriously injured.
“Officers on scene provided emergency medical assistance to both the man and the injured officer, but the man was pronounced dead on scene,” ASIRT said.
“The injured officer was transported to a hospital in Edmonton. He was admitted and treated and has since been released.”
The suspect’s gun, which ASIRT described as a “12-gauge, semi-automatic, tactical-style shotgun,” was recovered from the scene. No details about the suspect were released.
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ASIRT is urging anyone who may have witnessed the QEII incident that unfolded near the Highway 2A overpass, or who may have video or audio of the incident, to contact its investigators at 780-644-1483.
ASIRT is called on to investigate incidents involving Alberta law enforcement agencies that result in serious injury or death, as well as serious or sensitive allegations of police misconduct.
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