Edmonton police officers cleared by watchdog after man shot, killed at hotel

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EDMONTON - Alberta's police watchdog has cleared officers involved in shooting a man 18 times in a confrontation after he reportedly damaged tires at a south Edmonton hotel.

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EDMONTON – Alberta’s police watchdog has cleared officers involved in shooting a man 18 times in a confrontation after he reportedly damaged tires at a south Edmonton hotel.

In a report issued Thursday, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, or ASIRT, says it was reasonable for officers in the July 2021 shooting to believe the suspect was a risk to their lives and those around them.

Acting executive director Matthew Block says the use of force was proportional and necessary. “There are no reasonable grounds to believe that an offence was committed,” Block says in the report.

An Edmonton Police Service car is pictured in Edmonton on Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson.
An Edmonton Police Service car is pictured in Edmonton on Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson.

Police were called to the Ramada hotel parking lot after guests reported seeing a man armed with what turned out to be an airsoft pistol shooting and slashing tires.

Police blocked road traffic near the hotel intersection and two officers were alerted to the man walking towards their vehicle. One officer got out and demanded the man get on the ground, but he instead ran into the parking lot of a vacant building.

Four officers chased the man on foot, while two others followed him in a vehicle. There was concern from police that the armed suspect might eventually travel to a nearby busy street.

One of the responding officers said he saw the suspect pull a black object that he believed was a gun from his mid-section. Other officers yelled at him: “Drop the gun!” 

Three officers “each fired their carbines at the (man) in quick succession, striking the (man) multiple times,” the report says.

“The fact that all three subject officers deployed their weapons almost simultaneously and in quick succession further supports that the officers felt it was necessary to act quickly,” the report says. 

An autopsy revealed the man was shot 18 times in the head, neck, torso and extremities. Toxicology results also revealed the man had ingested methamphetamine, cocaine and cannabis before his death.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2025

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