A Calgary Police Service officer who fired his service pistol at a vehicle that drove toward a military parade in October 2019 will not be charged, a report by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) said Thursday.
The police watchdog said the officer’s response was “reasonable” given the threat that officer and others were under when a vehicle was driving erratically on a downtown street.
On Oct. 19, 2019, a military parade was making its way down 8 Avenue S.W. in downtown Calgary, heading to Mewata Armory.
CPS was escorting the parade, with officers on bicycles being used to stop traffic at intersections along the avenue.
Two people in a black Toyota Corolla, which was later revealed to be stolen, were driving northbound on 6 Street S.W. when an officer motioned for it to stop. That vehicle stopped briefly before turning onto 8 Avenue, accelerating toward the parade. The vehicle’s passenger told investigators they thought the car came close enough to the officer’s bicycle she thought they might have hit it.
Body-worn camera footage from officers on the scene showed the sedan continued driving down the road before coming to a stop about 10 to 20 metres away from an officer on a marked police motorcycle with emergency lights on. The car then backed up while turning with multiple officers yelling at the driver to stop the car, one officer having their gun drawn.
The driver jumped a small cement divider, drove across a bike lane, onto the sidewalk and tried turning left but hit the wall in front of him. The driver then backed up and drove forward, nearly hitting an officer who had to dodge the vehicle.
At that point, the first officer who initially directed the car to stop joined the other two officers, pointed his firearm and fired three shots at the vehicle – the first shot while right beside the car. The bullet casing was captured on the body-worn camera video.
The driver “accelerated quickly” down the sidewalk as the officer fired two more shots, all within three seconds.
The car then turned northward on 6 Street S.W., driving for two blocks before running a red light at 6 Avenue and colliding with a van in the intersection.
The driver and passenger were then arrested; the driver had a gunshot to his left arm and the passenger’s left thigh was struck by a bullet fragment.
Police said Bogdan Ferdinand Diordiev, 21-years-old at the time, was charged with seven offences including dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, flight from a police officer and driving an uninsured vehicle.
Alanna Mae Steeves, then 28, was charged with possession of drugs. ASIRT said the passenger’s bag contained 3.2 grams of fentanyl.
The ASIRT report said the driver admitted to smoking methamphetamine an hour prior to the incident. He also told ASIRT investigators he was unaware of the parade and tried to correct after making an incorrect turn.
The police watchdog said the evidence does not support that the driver simply made an incorrect turn.
“His actions are more consistent with a drug-intoxicated driver in a stolen vehicle who is trying to get away from police,” Matthew Block, ASIRT assistant executive director, wrote.
Block also wrote that the driver “ignored the commands of the (first officer) and started to drive toward a military parade. The (first officer) and other officers responded with urgency, which was appropriate.”
ASIRT found the first shot while the vehicle was beside the officer was a “necessary use of force,” but the second and third shots were “not as clearly necessary.”
“Shooting at a fleeing vehicle is clearly not necessary and would be excessive force in most circumstances. In the moment, however, it would not have been immediately clear to the (first officer) that (the driver) was fleeing.”
Finding that the officer’s actions were reasonable under the powers granted police in the Criminal Code, no charges will be laid.
Comments