The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has concluded the investigation into a shooting involving an Okotoks officer.

The incident happened on April 19, 2018, when officers responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle with a man slumped over the steering wheel.

Two officers initially approached the Jeep after confirming it had been stolen and informed the driver he was under arrest.

The driver then started the vehicle and reversed, with the open driver-side door knocking both officers to the ground.

The jeep collided with a police vehicle before driving forwards, performing a u-turn and colliding with a parked car in the process, before mounting the curb and leaving the parking lot.

A third officer (referred to as the 'Subject Officer' in the report), who had arrived just prior to this, fired four rounds at the Jeep after it reversed, with two of them going through the rear window, one striking one of the vehicle's wheel wells, and the other being unaccounted for. 

No one was injured by any of the shots, and the suspect was located soon after and placed under arrest.

Neither of the witness officers sustained major injuries either.

ASIRT's investigation sought to determine whether the subject officer's use of force was reasonable, given the circumstances.

The report includes eyewitness accounts from four civilians, three officers (including the subject officer), and the suspect from the incident, as well as multiple in-car videos.

The subject officer's testimony differed from ASIRT's rundown of the incident in a few notable ways, including the officer claiming to have discharged his firearm three times rather than four, though the report notes that these misconceptions from the officer did not affect his intentions during the incident.

Ultimately, the report includes that, after falling to the ground, "both witness officers were very close to the vehicle and were vulnerable to being hit or run over. There can be little debate that given this, they were in harm's way, and under such circumstances, as then seen by the Subject Officer it was reasonable to believe that both witness officers were in jeopardy of grievous bodily harm or death from being hit or run over by the escaping vehicle."

ASIRT executive director Michael Ewenson concludes:

"After a thorough, independent and objective investigation into the conduct of the Subject Officer, it is my opinion that he was clearly lawfully placed and acting properly in the execution of his duties. There is no evidence to support any inference that he engaged in any unlawful or unreasonable conduct that would give rise to an offence. The force used was necessary and reasonable in all the circumstances."

The full report can be found here.