EDMONTON -- A man who was shot by police in rural central Alberta has died, officials announced Monday afternoon.
The 32-year-old was shot in a confrontation with police on Dec. 29 near Hardisty, Alta., some 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.
Sunday evening, RCMP only said they had been pursuing a vehicle involved in another incident when the confrontation happened, and at that time, the man had been taken to an Edmonton hospital with serious injuries.
On Monday, officials released more details surrounding the fatal shooting, including that the police chase started at about 5 p.m. near the intersection of Highways 13 and 41.
“The pursuit ended when the suspect vehicle drove over a spike belt and shortly thereafter ended up in a ditch on the south side of (Highway) 13 just east of Hardisty,” police said in a statement.
“A confrontation occurred between the driver and lone occupant of the vehicle, a 32-year-old man, that resulted in RCMP members discharging their service pistols, resulting in serious injury to the man.”
He is said to have died Sunday night at an Edmonton hospital. His identity has not been made public.
It is unclear how many shots were fired or by how many RCMP members.
Officials said Monday that a replica handgun had been found at the scene in the snow outside the suspect’s driver’s door.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is investigating police members’ actions in the event.
Police say the pickup truck is believed to be the same one used to flee an RCMP traffic stop and ram a police vehicle multiple times Sunday morning.
Highway 13 was reopened Monday at 4:20 p.m.
