Alberta's premier says compassion drove him to donate to a southern Alberta man who is being sued by an intruder he shot on his property last year.

A courtroom erupted in cheers and applause Friday as all charges were dropped against a man accused of firing shots at suspected thieves on his rural property in southern Alberta.

About 150 rural landowners showed up at the courthouse in Okotoks to support Edouard Maurice, who faces assault and firearms charges stemming from an incident on his Alberta farm in February.