Released on June 24, 2024
On Thursday June 20, 2024, at approximately 11:06 a.m., the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) received a notification from the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) regarding an officer-involved shooting in Saskatoon.
SIRT's Civilian Executive Director accepted the notification as within SIRT's mandate and directed an investigation by SIRT.
On June 20 at approximately 10:35 a.m., SPS received a call reporting that a male had produced a shotgun and fired a single round in front of the caller at a location near the intersection of 20th St. West and Avenue U South. The caller provided a description of the involved male and the group he was with and remained on the line with SPS providing updates as to the group's location. At approximately 10:42 a.m., the caller terminated the call, and approximately one minute later, two members of the SPS Tactical Support Unit (TSU) encountered a group resembling the caller's description near the intersection of 20th St. West and Avenue S South. Shortly after the TSU members arrived, a confrontation occurred between the two members of SPS and a 27-year-old male, during which two members of SPS discharged their service pistols, striking the man.
EMS was contacted immediately and arrived at the location at approximately 10:50 a.m., where the man was pronounced deceased a short time later.
Immediately following the notification, a SIRT team consisting of the Civilian Executive Director and five SIRT investigators was deployed to begin their investigation. A community liaison has also been appointed pursuant to S.91.12 (1) (a) of The Police Act, 1990. During SIRT's investigation, ammunition and items believed to be components of a firearm were recovered from the incident scene and secured as exhibits for further testing.
SIRT's investigation will examine the actions of police during this incident, including the circumstances surrounding the man's death. SPS will maintain responsibility for any investigation into the original incident. No further information will be released at this time. A final report will be issued to the public within 90 days of the investigation ending.
SIRT's mandate is to investigate alleged cases of serious injury, death, sexual assault or interpersonal violence arising from the actions or omissions of on and off-duty police officers, or while an individual is in police custody.
For updates on SIRT investigations, follow SIRT on X, formerly known as Twitter, at https://twitter.com/SIRT_SK.
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