Man shot as he approached Ponoka, Alta., RCMP Detachment 'with a weapon': police

An officer shot an armed man in Ponoka, Alta., Thursday morning after he approached the RCMP Detachment there with a weapon and "a confrontation occurred," police said.

The gunfire happened around 9:30 a.m., and the scene included the Ponoka Courthouse, which was also taped off and locked down.

RCMP did not say if a weapon was found or used by the injured man, and there was no clarification what they believed that weapon to be.

No RCMP officers or anyone else was injured, and Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said the public was no longer in any danger Thursday afternoon.

STARS confirmed that an aircraft and crew were dispatched to the town from Edmonton just after 10 a.m.

"We rendezvoused with EMS at the Ponoka Airport and received a male patient in his 40s who sustained injuries consistent with a firearm," spokesperson Deborah Tetley said

She added that the man was in stable condition.

CTV News Edmonton captured images of the helicopter landing and transporting the patient at the University of Alberta Hospital just before noon.

'BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG'

Video from the scene appeared to show at least three shell casings in the middle of the street, marked by pylons. Clothing and a backpack on the courthouse steps were behind yellow police tape.

"I got woken up, and there was about seven gunshots, I'd say. Heard a little commotion and then bang, bang, bang, bang," Devon Swanson said.

He lives near the courthouse and ran out of his home to see what happened. Swanson said police had the streets closed almost immediately after the shooting stopped. He saw a person on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance.

"Hunting accidents is probably the most common shooting you'd find around here. I've lived here about 15 years, first shooting," Swanson said.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team was called in to investigate.

"The 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," Savinkoff wrote in his statement.

Ponoka is located about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton.

With files from The Canadian Press