Following a lengthy inquiry, investigators have determined that two officers who discharged their firearms during the course of a dangerous pursuit that spanned several RCMP jurisdictions, including Sundre, acted appropriately under the circumstances.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) was tasked with analyzing the October 13, 2017 incident that led to two out of three Red Deer suspects sustaining gunshot wounds; one a then 20-year-old female who received a minor head wound and the other a then 20-year-old male who was hospitalized with serious injuries.
All three suspects — Dakota Lee Cornelssen, Shae-Lee Phillips and Nicholas James Wales — were subsequently charged and their cases have already been concluded before the courts.
“Evidence obtained during the investigation included statements from civilian witnesses, EMS personnel, all involved officers and the occupants of the stolen vehicles, as well as radio communications and multiple available video recordings of portions of the events,” reads an ASIRT press release date May 3.
The dangerous daylong, cat-and-mouse chase started that October morning in Sundre. Members of the local detachment responded to a call from a man who reported being threatened after confronting a male and female suspect who were driving a truck later determined to have been stolen from Didsbury. The two suspects later picked up another male in Innisfail who had just been released on bail after being arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle the day before, said investigators.
Speeds reached in excess of 170 km/h and in several instances spike belts were deployed that the suspects not only attempted to evade, but they also on numerous occasions drove directly towards officers, prompting police to open fire more than once, investigators said. The chase spanned three RCMP jurisdictions — Sundre, Rocky Mountain House and Sylvan Lake — and almost ended when the stolen truck got stuck.
However, the two male suspects managed to escape that vehicle, leaving behind the female, who had sustained a relatively minor laceration to the back of her head after police fired their weapons as the driver accelerated towards an officer, investigators said. The male suspects proceeded to nearby properties where they eventually took another truck in their effort to evade apprehension.
The two men’s escape ended late that afternoon when a spike belt destroyed the freshly stolen truck’s passenger side tires and the officers opened fire as the driver headed straight towards one of the members, who as evidenced by video footage narrowly missed being struck by mere inches, investigators said.
“Had he not taken evasive actions, it is beyond dispute that the officer would have been struck by the middle of the front grill of the stolen truck,” investigators said.
The driver was incapacitated after being struck by two bullets — one in the forearm, the other through the shoulder ending up lodged in his spine causing paralysis, the investigators said. In an attempt to get away, the passenger reached his foot over the centre console to press the accelerator. The truck drove out of the east ditch, crossed Highway 20 and went into the west ditch where it became immobilized in a grove of trees. Investigators said police then promptly provided medical care to the wounded driver until paramedics arrived. Ultimately, STARS airlifted the suspect to hospital.
Having reviewed the comprehensive investigation, Susan Hughson, QC, executive director for ASIRT, concluded there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the officers involved in these events committed any criminal offences.
Multiple videos combined with the evidence of both civilian and police witnesses demonstrated that the three occupants of both stolen trucks were reckless and ready to do whatever was necessary to evade apprehension and, in those circumstances, extremely dangerous, investigators said. Although both men said their intention had never been to hit anyone, investigators determined their conduct, at a minimum, would have created a reasonable apprehension that this was their intent.
“Both men had repeatedly demonstrated a willingness, over a very limited period of time, to risk causing death or grievous bodily harm to both civilians and officers to further their flight and evade apprehension, and had engaged in a protracted crime spree doing so,” ASIRT reported.
“The risk was not hypothetical…If anything, (the suspects’) conduct had been escalating. Given the demonstrated conduct of both men, they needed to be stopped before they seriously injured or killed someone. The fact that they had not done so to that point was the result of good luck, nothing more. It was reasonable (for police) to act in the circumstances.”
