Alberta’s Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating after a 51-year-old man died following an incident where an RCMP officer fired their weapon in Calling Lake on Saturday.
Athabasca RCMP were called “multiple times” shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday by a man to attend his home. The man made comments during the 911 calls that he “wanted to engage RCMP members in a shootout,” according to a news release.
Officers went to the home, and while the man exited and had an “interaction” with RCMP, he returned inside. The area was contained, and the emergency response team was deployed, police said.
Several hours later, the man exited the residence again and “confronted RCMP members on the street.” Police said this led to an RCMP officer discharging their service firearm at 1:32 a.m.
The man died on the scene, despite first aid efforts from EMS, police said.
ASIRT has been directed to investigate the actions of the police and the circumstances around the shooting.
The hamlet of Calling Lake is located just over 200 kilometres north of Edmonton.