On Feb. 25, 2023, at approximately 11:50 p.m., an Evansburg RCMP Officer located a vehicle that was stuck and which had been reported to have been stolen, on Range Road 102 A, north of Highway 16, in Yellowhead County, Alta. The officer approached on foot and attempted to arrest the occupants, but the driver exited the vehicle and pointed a firearm at the officer. The officer discharged his firearm and the suspect retreated into his vehicle.
Officers from neighbouring RCMP detachments were called to assist and surrounded the suspect vehicle. Eventually the two occupants of the suspect vehicle surrendered to police and were taken into custody. One of the suspects sustained a minor injury during this incident, while no police officers were injured.
The Alberta 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. 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 director deemed the incident to be "in scope" for ASIRT; however, assigned the investigation to the RCMP, with ASIRT oversight.
Alberta RCMP Serious Crimes and General Investigation Sections have taken over carriage of the investigation. An update will be provided when available.
Independent of ASIRT, the Alberta RCMP's internal review process has been implemented to gather a full account of what took place during this incident. RCMP training, policy, police response, and the duty status of the members involved will be subject to review. The Alberta RCMP is, of course, fully cooperating with ASIRT.