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Calgary police said a woman who was shot by a police officer during a confrontation involving an erratic driver along Deerfoot Trail on Sunday has died in hospital.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has been called in to investigate.
Police said the confrontation took place around 4:17 p.m. after they received multiple reports of an erratic driver.
Officers eventually brought the vehicle to a stop along Deerfoot, between 16 Avenue and Memorial Drive Southeast.
“It is believed the same person has been responsible for driving erratically and fleeing from police over the past 24 hours,” police said in a news release.
“As police worked to bring the driver into custody, a confrontation occurred, resulting in multiple officers using a variety of use-of-force tools, including one officer discharging their service firearm. The affected person was transported to hospital in life-threatening condition.”
Video from a city traffic camera shows officers breaking a vehicle window and using a spray can in an attempt to get the driver out of the vehicle.
In another video, shot by a Global News viewer, multiple officers can be heard ordering the woman to put her hands in the air.
In some frames of the video, there appears to be something in the woman’s right hand.
Doug King, a professor of justice studies at Mount Royal University said ASIRT investigators will need to determine whether the amount of force used by officers during the arrest was justified.
“What we saw in the video is there were several different modes of use of force — there was taser, there was pepper spray, there was what looks like a bean bag or some other kind of projectile — and although the pepper spray was having an affect on the woman it wasn’t stopping her,” Kind said.
“So I think what it all comes down to is, from the perspective of the officer who shot the firearm, was it reasonably necessary? In other words, did the officer think the woman was advancing towards other officers with a knife, not following instructions,” King added.
He said ASIRT will also have the benefit of seeing video from the body-worn cameras of the officers involved.
On Monday Calgary police said the woman who was shot later died in hospital.
None of the officers involved in the incident or any members of the public were injured.
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