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A brief roadside gunfight in the city’s northeast left an Edmonton police officer wounded and a suspect dead late Monday.
Police Chief Rod Knecht said officers responded to a call for a possible impaired driver around 9:30 p.m. and conducted a simple traffic stop on the suspected vehicle on 118 Avenue, near Abbotsfield Road.
“A confrontation with the members occurred, there was an exchange of gunfire, and an EPS member was shot. A suspect was fatally shot and was pronounced dead at the scene,” Knecht said.
The officer, an eight-year veteran of the force who is around 40 years old, was shot in the “lower body” and taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Knecht said the officer, who he would not name, was in hospital with family and squad members when he visited at 11:30 p.m. Monday.
“He is heavily sedated, but is in good spirits and appears to be doing well,” Knecht said, adding that the officer’s family is “very upset.”
At least a dozen police cars surrounded a large taped-off area east of Abbotsfield Mall Monday night.
Knecht said the incident highlights the danger of traffic stops.
“One of the most dangerous things police officers do is stop cars. The public probably doesn’t appreciate that because they think, ‘I’m just getting a ticket,’ but it’s really an unknown for us when we stop a car such as this type of situation,” he said.
The identity of the deceased has not been released.
Knecht would not offer any more details on the shooting as the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is taking over the investigation.
Knecht did not say where the suspect was shot, whether the suspect was known to police, or whether anyone else was in the suspect vehicle.
More to come…
Agencies/Canadajournal
