ASIRT says death of machete-wielding man is not considered criminal – StrathmoreNow.com

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team says an altercation that resulted in a man’s death was not criminal.

According to ASIRT, on August 6, 2023, members of the Medicine Hat Police Service received a call that a man was carrying a machete and was yelling about an imaginary person.

The man threatened the officers and emergency services were called to help.

Crisis negotiators were also called in to speak with the man, but he said all phones were tapped. He continued to scream and then went back to his apartment.

Pepperball rounds were fired to stop the man, but ASIRT says they didn’t work.

The man then approached the officers with the machete in his hand and was hit by several ARWEN cartridges, which are hard, blunt plastic bullets. They hit him in the leg and he ran back to his apartment.

The press release states that a powerful irritant gas was emitted, forcing the man to open the door of his home and then go back inside.

More gas was released, forcing the man onto the third floor balcony.

Two tactical officers were on the ladder of a fire truck and shot the man with an energy weapon. Officers used a pin-and-hold technique with a shield and the man was disarmed after additional ARWEN rounds struck his legs and hands.

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He was taken into custody and treated at the scene by emergency services.

According to ASIRT, only soft tissue injuries were found and he was hospitalized in stable condition.

In the hospital, the man’s health deteriorated, he suffered cardiac arrest and later died.

An autopsy revealed the cause of death was “ST-elevation myocardial infarction in the setting of methamphetamine intoxication and police restraint,” ASIRT added.

Witnesses said the man was screaming that people across the street had kidnapped his family, and one believed he had used methamphetamine.

ASIRT mentioned that the different levels of force may have contributed to the effects of the man’s myocardial infarction.