A 39-year-old man was airlifted to hospital after a police shooting in central Alberta Thursday.
RCMP media relations Cpl. Troy Savinkoff told Global News one person was injured when a firearm was discharged near the Ponoka courthouse.
It happened Thursday morning at around 9:30 a.m. Savinkoff said there was no danger to the public.
A news release from RCMP later said police received a report of an armed person holding a weapon approaching the Ponoka RCMP Detachment, which is located next to the courthouse.
A confrontation occurred between the man and an officer, RCMP said, during which time the officer fired their gun. Officers on scene provided first aid to the man until paramedics arrived.
STARS Air Ambulance said its crew met EMS at the Ponoka Airport and transported a man to the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton.
The man suffered critical injuries as a result of the confrontation, according to RCMP, but STARS said he was in stable condition during transport.
In an update on Monday, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, the province’s police watchdog, said the man remained in hospital with critical injuries.
RCMP had earlier said they had a suspect but it was not known at that time whether the person was in custody.
As of 11:20 a.m. Thursday, it was still an active scene with several emergency vehicles in the area. The courthouse was also sectioned off with police tape.
ASIRT was called in to investigate the police shooting.
“The RCMP believes in processes that seek the facts and it’s important that processes taken to assess the actions of all those involved, including the police, are fair, transparent and defendable,” a RCMP news release Thursday afternoon said.
“This is why, as soon as we became aware of this incident, we immediately notified the director of law enforcement and initiated our internal review process. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has been directed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the actions of the police during this investigation.”
ASIRT is called upon to investigate serious injury or death that may have been caused by police and serious or sensitive allegations of police misconduct.
RCMP said it will conduct an internal review to gather a full account of what took place during the shooting. Training, policy, police response and the duty status of the members involved will be subject to review, police said.
Because the shooting is under ASIRT review, RCMP said it would not comment further on what happened.
Ponoka is located about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton.
– With files from Kirby Bourne, 630 CHED
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