UPDATE: On April 3, 2023, ASIRT released the findings of its investigation which concluded that the case did not involve any criminality. The police watchdog explained what led to the man climbing from balcony to balcony and said the officers dealt with him carefully while attempting to get EMS, a mental health team and a negotiator in place. Click here to view the report in its entirety.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team said Monday that no police officers were on a west Edmonton apartment balcony when a 39-year-old man took a serious fall in late February.
The 39-year-old suffered critical injuries and remains in the intensive care unit.
ASIRT was called in to investigate after the man fell following attempted negotiations with police on the morning of Feb. 28.
Police were called for reports of a intoxicated and erratic man in one of the suites at the West Edmonton Village apartment building at around 7:40 a.m.
ASIRT said Monday that the man was in a distressed state, acting erratically, throwing things off the balcony and sitting on the balcony railing.
When officers arrived around 8:15 a.m., ASIRT says they “began speaking with the man in an attempt to de-escalate the situation,” but remained on the ground below the balcony.
ASIRT said the man eventually blocked the door from his suite to the balcony, and police contacted a negotiator as well as EMS.
ASIRT said officers then attempted to speak to the man from inside the man’s suite when he broke one of the balcony railing glass panels and lowered himself to the balcony one floor below.
At 9:14 a.m., the man attempted to lower himself again to another floor using a belt. ASIRT said he lost his grip on the belt and “fell multiple floors to the ground below.”
“Available video evidence confirms that as he attempted to lower himself the second time, no one was on the balcony with him,” ASIRT said.
ASIRT did not say from which floor of the building the man fell.
The man was transported to hospital by EMS. His name has not been released.
ASIRT said it will continue to investigate the conduct of police during the incident.