EDMONTON – An 11-hour standoff with police in a northern Alberta aboriginal community ended when a 37-year-old man was fatally gunned down by a Mountie Saturday, said the RCMP.
RCMP spokesman Sgt. Patrick Webb said the Lakeshore Regional Police Service was called to a disturbance at a home in the Driftpile First Nation sometime around 10 p.m. Friday.
When police arrived, the call turned to a weapons complaint when a shot was fired as cops approached the home.
That's when the service called the RCMP emergency response team for backup, said Webb.
After a standoff that lasted more than 11 hours, a Mountie fatally shot a man who came out of the house carrying a firearm at around 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
No one else was injured.
"The officer is getting help through the RCMP's members assistance program," said Webb.
Mounties refused to release further details about the shooting, but the police did say the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating.
Webb said it's expected the cop will be on active duty soon, once the officer has had time getting help through the RCMP assistance program.
The spokesman was tight-lipped when asked about the officer's identity, including age, rank and years of experience.
Driftpile First Nation is about 320 km northwest of Edmonton.
Investigators with ASIRT could not be reached for comment.
This is the second time the province's serious incident response team has responded to a shooting in an aboriginal community over the past week.
Another ASIRT investigation is still underway after a Mountie shot a 26-year-old man after a family disturbance in the Alexander First Nation Tuesday. The man was rushed to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Meanwhile, investigators with ASIRT are also still investigating the death of a 53-year-old man who was killed after he was struck by an RCMP cruiser in the Big Stone Cree reserve Aug. 12.
Roy Beauregard was celebrating Treaty Days, an annual summertime event in the community roughly 320 km north of Edmonton.
Mounties say a southbound police vehicle was responding to an assault complaint when the officer noticed Beauregard crossing the road directly in front of him shortly before 11 p.m.
Police say the officer took immediate "evasive action" and swerved into the northbound lane while trying to avoid oncoming traffic.
But the vehicle struck the man, sending him flying into a nearby ditch. He was rushed to hospital where he later died.
jeff.cummings@sunmedia.ca
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