BB gun recovered at scene of RCMP police detachment shooting, says police watchdog

Alberta's police watchdog says four RCMP officers shot at and seriously injured a man they believed had a firearm in an RCMP detachment parking lot near Edmonton late last month.

In a news release Tuesday, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team said an RCMP officer spotted a man in the secure parking lot of the Strathcona County RCMP detachment in Sherwood Park, Alta., on July 28 at 10:30 a.m.

ASIRT said the RCMP officer believed the man had a firearm and broadcast that information over the police radio.

Other officers entered the parking lot and "provided verbal directions to the man."

Four officers then shot at the man, striking him multiple times, ASIRT said.

Officers immediately began providing first aid and the man was transported to hospital with serious injuries. ASIRT said the man remains in hospital and is expected to survive.

A BB gun was recovered at the scene, ASIRT said. No details have been released about why the man was in the RCMP parking lot.

ASIRT's mandate is to independently investigate incidents involving Alberta's police that have resulted in serious injury or death to any person.

It said the investigation will examine the use of force by the officers during the incident.