ASIRT clears two officers in 2025 Ermineskin Cree Nation shooting
A man was struck by police gunfire last June after appearing to point what officers believed was a shotgun; he survived after surgery. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team found no wrongdoing by the two RCMP officers involved.
Why it matters
The case highlights how Alberta reviews police use-of-force incidents, particularly ahead of the province's new Police Review Commission overseeing such investigations.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has cleared two RCMP officers of wrongdoing following a non-fatal shooting at Ermineskin Cree Nation on June 24, 2025. Police were dispatched to a home after a disconnected 911 call in which a caller could be heard saying "Get out of my room." Officers believed the caller was a woman who had previously reported concerns about her son's mental state and self-harm, and dispatch advised that the man had a history of violence and was subject to a firearms prohibition.
When officers arrived in two unmarked vehicles, the man walked toward them holding what appeared to be a long object in each hand and pointed one toward officers. Despite repeated commands to drop the items, an officer opened fire less than 20 seconds after arriving, eventually discharging multiple volleys of shots over less than a minute as the man took cover, reappeared and advanced on officers.
The man was struck and later flown to the University of Alberta Hospital for surgery. Investigators recovered a cut section of a shotgun barrel, a steel axle mistaken for a firearm part, and an unfired 20-gauge shotgun cartridge near the scene.
ASIRT determined the items constituted an improvised firearm-like object and concluded the officers' use of force was justified. The investigation predated the Dec. 1, 2025 creation of Alberta's Police Review Commission under revised Police Act rules.
Compiled by the Alberta Daily Desk — an AI-written summary of reporting from the credited sources below, produced and reviewed under our editorial policy.