Man fatally shot at Fort McMurray airport threatened to harm himself with 'large knife': ASIRT

EDMONTON -

Before northern Alberta Mounties fatally shot a man at an airport, they attempted to use less-lethal weapons to subdue him without success, comes an update from the province’s police watchdog.

The confrontation between the 27-year-old and Wood Buffalo RCMP happened in the early morning of Oct. 15 at the Fort McMurray airport.

On Tuesday, in its first update since the incident, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team said the man died in hospital.

Among the few details provided on the day of the shooting, police said a man “displaying erratic behaviour with an edged weapon” was reported around 5:30 a.m.

According to ASIRT, he had been seen “holding a ‘large knife’ to his own throat.”

The officers who responded found him in a taxi near the departures terminal. ASIRT says there is footage of him leaving the taxi with a knife, at which point there was an exchange between him and police.

“Officers had been speaking with the man for approximately 20 minutes when the situation escalated. Officers employed a 40-mm less-lethal impact munition and a conducted energy weapon (CEW), neither of which was effective,” ASIRT said.

One Mountie fired their gun nearly an hour after police had first been called, around 6:19 a.m. EMS on scene gave him emergency treatment and took him to hospital.

ASIRT is reviewing police’s use of lethal force; RCMP is conducting its own internal review.

The knife was seized at the airport.