A police shooting occurred while officers responded to a domestic altercation in the Massey Place neighbourhood on Wednesday, according to the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS).
Police said they were called to a report of a 27-year-old man armed with a weapon in an apartment in the 1100 block Avenue W North around 5:50 p.m.
“During the response to the incident, the male was armed with a knife and his actions led to an SPS member discharging their firearm, injuring the male,” SPS deputy Chief Randy Huisman said on Thursday.
“I can tell you that the firearm was discharged outside of the building. I can’t confirm whether it was in the parking lot or the surrounding area, but it was discharged on the exterior of the building.
“Two officers attended the initial call and those are the two officers that ended up in the shooting and there would have been more officers after the fact but there was a call for assistance but I believe it was just those two officers.”
The man was taken hospital for treatment of what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
“The male will be facing charges. I’m not certain at this point in regards to what type of charges he will be facing; that is still a matter of investigation,” Huisman said.
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Huisman said the officers had not been interviewed yet.
“After having worked an entire shift, so they’re, you know, under the gun with being tired and sleepy and having to complete their notes and that kind of thing for the report. So it’s fair to provide those officers with a period of time to have a sleep cycle or so and prepare their statement,” Huisman said.
“I came down here last night to check on the condition of our officers and they were doing … OK. Obviously, they’re under a lot of pressure right now but there’s no injuries that I could see.
“Internally, in regards to our members, plans are being put in place to provide critical incident stress management debriefings for the members involved.”
The SPS has requested the shooting be investigated by members of the Regina Police Service’s major crime section. The provincial government has also be asked to appoint an independent investigation observer.
“The Police Amendment Act of 2020 is not currently — it’s gone through a first couple of readings, so it’s not actually enacted in law yet (in Saskatchewan),” Huisman said.
“But the spirit of that speaks to changes to the police act, which include having another police agency take on the lead, as well as appointing investigative observers… to an injury, serious injury or death at the hands of police investigations.
“This is, in my recollection, the first time the Saskatoon police have asked for independent observers to take over a major crime investigation.”
Police are asking anyone who witnessed the shooting that may not have come forward yet to contact them 306-975-8300.
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