Alberta’s police watchdog says a robbery suspect who was killed by officers during a shooting that also left an innocent man dead was carrying a fake firearm.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, known as ASIRT, said in a statement Friday that an imitation weapon was found near the 36-year-old suspect’s body after he was shot Wednesday in a Edmonton neighbourhood north of downtown.
“ASIRT’s investigation will examine the circumstances surrounding the firearm discharges and the use of force,” the statement said.
A 59-year-old man who was the resident manager of an apartment building next to where the shooting happened died in hospital after he was hit by a bullet while inside a unit.
Robert McLeod, president of the property management firm that employed the man, has said the manager had only recently started working with the company.
On Friday, a hole surrounded by police tape could be seen in the bottom corner of a basement window with a white blind pulled down.
“There are so many different things that could have happened … going through an individual into a building, missed into a building,” police Chief Dale McFee said Thursday during a news conference.
Police said the man killed outside the building matched the description of a suspect who had fled a downtown liquor store after an employee called police about an armed robbery.
Officers found the suspect a flew blocks away and, after a confrontation, fired their guns, ASIRT said.
Neighbours said the sound of multiple gunshots echoed through the area before police rushed to the apartment building to check on the man who had been shot.
A sign from ASIRT asking for witnesses to come forward with any photos and videos was posted on a nearby building Friday. Police tape that surrounded the scene the day before was gone.
ASIRT investigates serious police actions resulting in injuries or death.
—The Canadian Press
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