Rookie officer shoots knife-wielding man in leg

A man is in hospital after being shot by a Calgary police officer who is in his first week on the job.

Police were responding to an assault call at a home on Fonda Hill S.E. in the Forest Lawn area Friday morning. A woman met them outside and said she had been assaulted by a man inside the house, said duty Insp. Paul Stacey.

As the two officers — a rookie partnered with a senior member — entered a stairwell to interview the man, he lunged at them with a knife, said Stacey.

One of the officers fired a single shot, hitting the man in the leg, he said. The injured man, 41, is in stable condition in hospital.

"The officer who was lunged at was the senior member," said police Chief Rick Hanson. "The officer who reacted by pulling his handgun and responding to the use of force in the appropriate way was one of the recent graduates from the recruit class, so it was his first week on the job."

The officer was one of 18 recruits who graduated on Friday.

Hanson said he believes the incident proves just how well Calgary police officers are trained to deal with threatening situations.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has been called in to assist the force's Professional Standards Section in investigating whether proper procedures were followed.

This is the first shooting case for the team, which was set up by the province in 2007 to provide independent investigations of complaints involving police officers.