The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is investigating after a 36-year-old man was found unresponsive and later declared dead following an overnight stay in a jail cell at an Edmonton police division station.
On Saturday, a news release from the Edmonton Police Service said the man was initially arrested Friday evening just after 7 p.m., after calls reported a man with a firearm at a residence in the area of 60 Street and 35A Avenue.
When officers arrived, they located a man “matching the suspect description” in the area and arrested him for public intoxication. A firearm was also found in his possession.
The man was taken to a holding cell at the Edmonton police’s southeast division building around 8 p.m.
Despite “several routine cell checks” done on the man overnight, he was found unresponsive in his cell at 5:55 a.m. Saturday.
ASIRT said in a Monday news release that police conducted first aid and EMS was called, but the man was declared dead at 6:27 a.m.
ASIRT also said a substance was recovered from the man’s cell that later tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine and carfentanil.
ASIRT will continue to investigate the conduct of police during the incident, including the circumstances surrounding the man’s arrest and his time in custody.
The agency independently investigates incidents involving Alberta’s police that result in serious injury or death.