The Saskatoon Police Service is leading an investigation into a police involved shooting, on the Trans Canada Highway, near Moose Jaw.
Just after one Sunday morning, police in Moose Jaw were told about a man, who had a gun, and he was uttering threats. Police located the person at the Superstore parking lot. Moose Jaw Police called in the RCMP Critical Incident Response Team, and the Regina Police Service SWAT team to help out with the unfolding incident.
Police spoke with the person for a time, before he left the parking lot in his vehicle headed out onto Highway #1.
The 27 year old man stopped his car on the Trans Canada Highway near Belle Plaine, and Moose Jaw Police Service Crisis Negotiators continued to talk with the man, in an attempt to verbally de-escalate the situation.
According to police, just after 7 a.m., the man pointed a gun at the police, and refused several commands to put the weapon down, and at least one shot was fired by police. The news release from the Moose Jaw police did not say how many rounds were fired, or by how many weapons.
Despite emergency first aid, the 27 year old man was declared dead. Police recovered the gun.
The Trans Canada Highway was closed for several hours while police investigated, and gathered evidence. The highway was re-opened just after 5 o’clock on Sunday afternoon.
In situations of a police shooting, there are very clear guidelines of how an investigation is run to avoid a police force investigating itself. In this case, the Saskatoon Police Service will investigate the shooting, and the Ministry of Justice will appoint an independent observer to follow the case as well.
The person who was shot and killed was not identified, but his family has been notified.