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Calgary police fired stun guns at a man and punched him in the head before he was placed in restraints and died, investigators with Alberta’s police watchdog said Wednesday.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, or ASIRT, said in a statement that police were called on Sept. 17 to a man loitering near the Carriage House Hotel and Conference Center check-in desk.
The agency said the man looked stunned when an officer told him to leave. The man tried to pick up items from the floor that were not there.
When the officer pointed a Taser at the man, ordering him to leave again, ASIRT said the man raised his hands and began to walk out. He told police: “I don’t want to die.”
“The individual officer tells the man to stop talking and he continues to point the weapon at him,” the agency said.
He said two other officers started walking through the main doors towards the man, and he stopped and repeated that he did not want to die. The first officer put away his Taser and tried to grab the man.
“At no point during the interaction was the man identified, and he was never told he was being detained or arrested,” ASIRT said.
He said that the man physically opposed the officer and that another officer tackled him to the ground, and then punched the man in the head. At this point, ASIRT said the three officers fought the man for 3 1/2 minutes with “various uses of force.”
The man was placed in handcuffs and leg restraints, and a spitting mask was placed over his mouth, ASIRT said.
“It is noted that the male is bleeding from the mouth and vomiting,” the agency said.
He said seven minutes later, the man was tranquilized by emergency crews and left lying face down. After another three minutes, he was found unresponsive.
“Medical care was then provided to the man but he was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Calgary police said in a statement the same day that officers were called to the hotel for a man “behaving erratically” in the lobby who refused to leave. They said the man was uncooperative and remained aggressive after a Taser was pulled out.
Police said the man was pepper sprayed and taken into custody and shortly afterwards went into medical distress.
A police spokesman said on Wednesday that the three officers involved had been placed on normal 30-day leave.
“We know there is a family and community grieving this loss and our thoughts are with them during this difficult time,” said a statement.
ASIRT, which investigates serious allegations of police misconduct, said its inquiry will examine the use of force by officers.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on September 25, 2024.
—By Aaron Sousa in Edmonton
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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