Man dead after Regina police-involved shooting

Fewer than 12 hours after a police-involved shooting where a man died, the only indication something happened at a home on Halifax Street was the two parked police vehicles.

Around 5:30 a.m. Saturday, police said they received a call from a neighbour in an apartment building on the block near 12th Avenue about a disturbance. When officers arrived, just a few minutes later, they say they found a man in one of the suites holding a woman hostage with a knife.

Police Chief Evan Bray spoke about the time between then and the man being shot as both long and short. He said such situations are fluid, dynamic and happen very quickly, but he also said there was a significant amount of time involved.

In numbers, Bray said it was significantly more than an hour. In that time, SWAT, crisis negotiators and EMS were called to the scene. Bray said many de-escalation techniques were used to try to defuse the situation.

“Ultimately, an officer made a decision to discharge a firearm as an acceptable level of force to stop a situation because of a fear he had that someone else could be seriously injured,” he explained.

Bray said the officer who fired his gun was a member of the patrol response, but wouldn’t give any other details about him. That person will be relieved of operational duties for a time as they’re debriefed and given critical incident stress management.

The woman involved in the incident was taken to hospital right away, according to Bray. He didn’t give the extent of her injuries, but said they weren’t life-threatening.

Regina Police Chief Evan Bray spoke to media about the fatal police-involved shooting on May 4, 2019. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

The man has been identified and his next-of-kin notified about what happened, but at this time Bray said his name is not being released. Bray noted he doesn’t see why it wouldn’t be released later.

In terms of the investigation, the coroner will be involved and it will be overseen by the Ministry of Justice.

Bray said some of the most extensive training officers get is on use of force. He said he wouldn’t commit to saying whether other types of force were tried in this situation, he noted the options were there.

The chief wouldn’t say whether he, personally, felt it was an appropriate use of force.

“The situation, it’s about timing, it’s about proximity to the subject — there’s a lot of factors that’re involved in whether or not those would be an appropriate level of force,” Bray explained. “I think through the investigation we’ll be able to better understand what was present, and why the use of force that was used, was used.”

Bray began his remarks to media on Saturday by acknowledging that someone lost their life in the incident; he said his thoughts and sympathies go out to the family of that man. He also spoke about the affect such an incident has on officers.

“This is a very tough day for those involved. Although there is extensive training involved in our job, these men and women are human beings — they think and they feel,” explained Bray.

Bray added he saw how tough it is when he spoke to the officers that morning.

“Even though we train for it, even though it’s something that officers — right from recruit training — step out on the street and understand they might be confronted with it, this is not an easy day for officers,” he said.