Woman dies after officer-involved shooting during traffic stop in Calgary
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is investigating after multiple uses of force during a highway confrontation with an erratic driver.
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A woman shot by a Calgary police officer during a traffic stop on Deerfoot Trail on June 22, has died in hospital. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has been called in to investigate.
The confrontation took place around 4:17 p.m. after police received multiple reports of erratic driving. Officers brought the vehicle to a stop between 16 Avenue and Memorial Drive Southeast. "It is believed the same person has been responsible for driving erratically and fleeing from police over the past 24 hours," police said. Video from a city traffic camera shows officers breaking a vehicle window and using spray in an attempt to get the driver out. In footage shot by a viewer, multiple officers can be heard ordering the woman to put her hands in the air.
As police worked to bring the driver into custody, a confrontation occurred involving multiple uses of force — tasers, pepper spray, and one officer discharging their service firearm. The woman was transported to hospital in life-threatening condition.
Doug King, a professor of justice studies at Mount Royal University, said ASIRT investigators will need to determine whether the amount of force was justified. "What we saw in the video is there were several different modes of use of force — there was taser, there was pepper spray, there was what looks like a bean bag or some other kind of projectile — and although the pepper spray was having an effect on the woman it wasn't stopping her," King said. None of the officers involved or any members of the public were injured.