In an altercation that lasted one minute and 14 seconds—during which a drunk driver advanced on a cop with a hunter’s knife and was shot by the officer—Alberta’s police watchdog has ruled the officer’s actions were “reasonable and necessary.”

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) announced Wednesday their findings of an investigation into the March 9, 2017, altercation that ended in a southwest Edmonton neighbourhood

In the early afternoon of March 9, Edmonton Police Service received several 911 calls regarding an impaired driver who had turned onto Whitemud Drive from 149 Street.

Testimonies gathered by ASIRT revealed witnesses saw a van—travelling between 30 km/h and 120 km/h—swerve in and out of lanes, hit curbs and a snowbank, and nearly collide with multiple motorists.

One of the callers followed the van as it exited south onto 119 Street, turned right at 23 Avenue, and came to a stop in a cul-de-sac in Hodgson Way. The driver turned around there and made his way back onto Holland Landing, at which point the uniformed EPS member arrived in a marked SUV. Also at this time, the caller who had been following the van left and reported not seeing any of the subsequent action between the officer and van’s driver.

According to the ASIRT report, the van and its driver matched the descriptions police had received earlier. The driver would later be identified as 55-year-old Vitaly Savin, an Edmonton resident with Russian-Canadian citizenship who had lived and worked in the city for eight years. 

The officer, a six-year EPS member, said Savin smelled of liquor and showed signs of impairment: glazed eyes, difficulty focusingand swaying. When asked, Savin told the cop he had not been drinking, but slurred his words.

The EPS member told ASIRT he then informed Savin he was under arrest and ordered the driver to turn around and place his hands behind his back.

Savin reportedly replied, “What do you want me to do?” and the command was repeated.

When the officer took Savin’s arm, Savin began to reach for something at his waist. The officer told Savin to keep his hands visible, and stepped back to call for assistance. This call was placed just 50 seconds after the initial stop.

Savin was told again to show his hands, but instead allegedly revealed a hunting knife and pointed it at the officer. As the EPS member backed up, Savin followed.

The cop then slipped on fresh snow and fell to his back, landing with Savin on top of him.

The two struggled as the officer said he yelled at Savin to “stop” and “get back,” and tried to push him off, eventually kicking him away.

As Savin then came at the felled officer again, still holding the weapon, the EPS member fired four rounds.

EPS received a second call from the responding officer approximately 20 seconds after the first, with the officer reporting “shots fired” and “he came at me with a knife.”

The officer performed CPR on Savin, who had landed in the roadway, knife still in hand, until other officers arrived. He was pronounced dead on scene.

In its report, ASIRT notes the Criminal Code authorizes officers to use as much force as is reasonably necessary to perform their duties. This can include force intended or likely to cause death or bodily harm in situations where the officer believes they or another person is in danger of imminent death or harm.

“Based on the available evidence as a whole, it is very clear that the conduct of the man presented a very real risk of death to the officer,” stated ASIRT.

“In the circumstances, the officer’s conduct was clearly objectively and subjectively reasonable and necessary.”

According to ASIRT, no civilians saw the shooting. Two individuals, however, heard the shots from inside their home. One person said he could hear illegible shouting before the shots, and upon walking outside, saw the officer was breathing heavy and had snow on his face and in his hair. The witness told ASIRT he looked like he had been in “a battle.”

Another witness said he watched from his window as the officer holstered his pistol and removed the weapon from Savin’s hand.

ASIRT’s investigation found the knife’s handle matched Savin’s sheath, and DNA on the handle matched Savin’s.

The Russian-Canadian was known to carry a hunting knife, but others said his reported behavior on March 9 was out of character. He had no prior criminal record.

An autopsy showed Savin’s blood alcohol level was more than three-and-a-half times the legal limit of 80mg/%.

“When assessing the danger posed to the officer by the man, and factors such as the presence of a weapon, the immediacy of the threat to the officer, and the lack of time, distance or the availability of other alternatives, it is evident that the action taken by the subject officer, while tragic, was reasonable in the circumstances,” said ASIRT.