Shawn Michael Price, 36, was shot to death May 10th, 2009.
Price was Edmonton's eleventh homicide victim of the year.
The case is under investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.
Edmonton police were flagged down by a person reporting a personal robbery at about 1:47 a.m. on May 10th, 2009 just north of the city's downtown.
The person described two suspects and officers caught up with one of them on the lawn of an apartment building at 10207 107 Avenue where a scuffle took place.
"At 1:45 this morning two members were on scene trying to effect the arrest of a robbery suspect when that suspect attempted to disarm one of the officers," Staff Sgt. Graham Hogg, acting spokesperson for ASIRT, told media at the scene.
"The other officer was forced to shoot that suspect who was subsequently transferred to the Royal Alexandra hospital for treatment, and I can tell you that he's since passed away."
The 36-year-old man was reportedly shot once in the hip and once in the chest.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), with assistance from Edmonton homicide detectives, took over the investigation.
The two officers involved in the shooting were unharmed but underwent testing after being exposed to the suspect's blood while carrying out life-saving measures.
Of the two officers, the more junior of the pair – a female constable with one year of service on the force – was the one who shot the suspect to stop him from gaining control of her partner's weapon. The senior officer was said to have 10 years experience.
Staff Sgt. Hogg would not confirm if the suspect had a grasp on the firearm when he was shot, adding given the apparent circumstances, it's likely the second officer took the only available option.
"In general senses, if it's a lethal encounter, it'll be lethal force," Hogg said.
Set up in the fall of 2007, the $3.8-million Alberta Serious Incident Response Team was created as an independent watchdog with a mandate to investigate police activity that results in death or serious injury.
ASIRT is led by a civilian director, Clifton G. Purvis, a Crown prosecutor who last worked for Project KARE.
Speaking at a news conference at the scene, Purvis outlined what was known.
"During the course of the attempted arrest an altercation broke out," Purvis said. "In the altercation, one uniformed police member discharged her service pistol two times."
Purvis couldn't confirm whether or not the officers were carrying tasers, if a weapon was used in the alleged robbery or whether the suspect had a weapon with him when he was shot.
"It's still very early in the investigation, we will try and uncover exactly what happened, and what steps, if any, were taken before the discharge of a firearm."
Purvis said the junior constable was in close proximity when she shot the suspect in the hip and chest.
A second suspect in the robbery was taken into police custody.
"She's been interviewed already by ASIRT investigators, and we're processing the information she provided," Purvis said.
The ASIRT director also spoke of the condition of the two officers.
"All I know is there was blood contamination. As a result of the contamination, the police officers received medical treatment.
"I don't know what the treatment they received was, I don't know what the prognosis was," Purvis said, adding the officers were exposed to a "significant amount" of blood.
Neither of the officers involved has been named.
Media interviewed a woman who was an eyewitness to the event – read more »
Rita Desjarlais' ground-floor apartment window was only a few feet away from the officers and their suspect when they struggled on the lawn.
She said she jumped to her window when she heard a woman yelling: “Put your hands up.”
"The male cop had this guy around the waist and he wasn't trying to fight back or nothing then this female cop shot him," Desjarlais said.
"She said, 'Put your hands in the air.' Bang. 'I said put your fucking hands in the air.' Bang. That's how quick it was.
"In cold blood, might as well say that because this guy wasn't doing nothing. He had nothing in his hands – he had his hands in the air.
"They put him to the ground, they cuffed him and she was stepping on his head," Desjarlais continued. "The lady cop was stepping on his head. He was helpless. He couldn't do nothing.
"Then the male cop checked his breathing, she uncuffed him and he started CPR right away.
“His eyes were still open, but he was dead. You could tell ... he was just limp," Desjarlais figured.
"To me, they did wrong. They had no reason to do that and something should be done about this because the guy was unarmed and there was no need for him to be shot like that.
"He wasn't trying to fight back or nothing then this female cop shot him. He had his hands in the air. Why did she shoot him? That's what gets me.
"It was like a movie ... it's still shocking to me, I didn't even sleep yet," Desjarlais said.
An acquaintance of the suspect, Desjarlais said she didn't know the man well but he was always nice to her. Her daughter talked to the man minutes before he was shot.
"I always see him around. He didn't bother anybody, wasn't a mean guy. He always said hi to us," Cherie Desjarlais said, adding she couldn't imagine him being a threat to police safety.
Cherie was in front of the apartment as the man walked up, asking her if she had some crack. "I told him I didn't have any."
She said the man then walked past her. As he approached 106th Avenue, officers arrived and chased him down.
"They knew who they were going for," Cherie said.
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While forsensics officers worked the scene, investigators asked those with information about the incident to contact Edmonton police at 780-423-4567, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or online at www.tipsubmit.com
Tips can also be text messaged. In Edmonton, text TIP250 + message and send to CRIMES (274637). In Northern Alberta, text TIP205 + message and send to CRIMES (274637).
The shooting victim was identified as 36-year-old Shawn Michael Price.
Price was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant after leaving a halfway house too early.
A screenshot of Price's Edmonton Police Service "Most Wanted" web site entry can be seen here.
Price's brother told The Edmonton Journal that Shawn had just completed a jail sentence for assault and had recently made an attempt to turn himself in – read more »
In June 1997, Shawn Price faced two counts of assault, one count of aggravated assault and a mischief charge in connection with an attempted carjacking at the Mayfair Hotel at 10815 Jasper Avenue.
Police said a woman was leaving work with her boyfriend when two men tried to force them from their car. The woman's boyfriend struggled to break free but was hit on the back of the head with a blunt object. Another man and woman ran to help and were also assaulted. Police reported one man suffered a fractured skull.
Also charged with two counts of assault in the matter was Rubin James Andrews.
In July 2007, Price confronted police with a knife after a department store robbery. Prior to his arrest he cut his own wrists and neck. He was charged with theft, two counts of resisting arrest and assault with a weapon and completed a period of incarceration in February 2009.
Price was then to report to a halfway house.
"He informed me that he had finished his term," Price's brother said, asking that his name be withheld. Later reports identified him as Kevin Price.
"When I found out he hadn't, I took him to the police late one night to turn himself in. They said to come back in the morning, and Shawn didn't."
In a follow-up story in The Journal, further details emerged regarding Price's efforts to turn himself in – read more »
On April 23rd, just before midnight, two officers came to Kevin Price's apartment looking for Shawn in connection with a Canada-wide warrant.
Kevin said he wasn't aware of the warrant but told police that Shawn was staying with him and that he was out with Willier.
Kevin said the officers told him that his brother needed to turn himself in and that when he did he should mention he had a "yellow folder," indicating he had an outstanding warrant.
Shawn told his brother he knew about the warrant, issued after he violated parole conditions by leaving a halfway house.
Shawn agreed to turn himself in. The two brothers walked to downtown police headquarters, arriving just after midnight.
As the station wasn't open to the public after 10:00 p.m., a posted sign directed visitors to use an after-hours buzzer. Kevin said Shawn pressed the buzzer for assistance.
"I stood back a bit because Shawn said it would be better for him if he wasn't escorted, so I don't know exactly what he said to the person on the intercom."
Shawn was told to return the next day, Kevin said. From the apartment, Shawn called the police again, mentioning the "yellow folder."
"I thought they would send a car right away to pick him up, but they didn't," Kevin said.
The next morning, Shawn told Kevin that he planned to go back to the police to take care of the matter. Kevin assumed his brother had and that the matter had been dealt with.
For years, Price's family had tried to keep him on the straight and narrow.
"You can drag a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. I couldn't force him to take help," the brother said.
Price told his sister-in-law that after his last jail term he would change.
"He had gotten clean in jail and was attending Alcoholics Anonymous," said the sister-in-law, who also did not want to be named.
"He talked a lot about being a better father to his daughter. However, once he got out, he fell back into drug use.
"Everyone is in different stages of confusion, wondering what happened," she said of her family's reaction to news of the shooting.
Price and his girlfriend Monica Willier had been staying at the brother's Jasper Avenue apartment in the weeks before his death. The couple's daughter (reported variously as being two or three years old) was living with her maternal grandmother.
Willier witnessed the shooting and told family members that Shawn was complying and had his back on the ground when he was shot.
"We're still not sure what exactly transpired, there's a lot of contradictory information, so we'll have to wait for the investigation to be done," Price's brother said.
More about Shawn Michael Price can be learned on his Facebook profile.
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Addressing issues of public confidence in the police service, Acting chief Norm Lipinski spoke to reporters at a news conference held on May 11th, 2009 – read more »
Lipinski confirmed that neither officer involved in Price's fatal shooting was carrying a Taser at the time of the incident.
The acting chief added that a Taser may not have been used even if the officers had one at their disposal.
"In lethal force situations, the Taser may very well be inappropriate for a number of reasons," Lipinski said. "The Taser does not always apply to lethal force situations and neither do we train to that effect."
Lipinski pointed out that a Taser has limited power and its single-shot limit makes it a poor choice in some violent situations.
"The Taser is not a panacea and in lethal force situations the Taser may very well be innappropriate.
"The Taser doesn't have the high level of stoppage effect that other weapon systems might have," Lipinski said. "Secondly, the Taser doesn't have subsequent rounds – you have one shot and that's it."
The acting chief also stood behind the officer who shot Price.
"She has just under a year of experience," Lipinski said. "I have full confidence in the training we give at the Edmonton Police service. As far as I’m concerned, whether it's one year or 10 years, they’re competent people out there."
Concerning a claim that Price tried to turn himself in to police earlier but was turned away and told to come back in the morning, Lipinski said police were looking into that allegation.
"We are certainly going to look into that," Lipinski said. "Generally speaking, when someone comes in and there are warrants outstanding, that person would be dealt with at that time."
Both the officers involved in the incident are on three days' administrative leave, Lipinski said. An assessment by human resources was to follow to determine if they are ready to return to work.
Four other officers who responded to the shooting were also receiving counselling.
Police said they would withhold further comment on the matter pending ASIRT's findings.
Just hours after the police news conference, The Edmonton Journal posted a story online (and later in print) that suggested Shawn Price threw away a crack pipe, not a weapon, when two officers in an unmarked car caught up to him.
The revelation came from Price's girlfriend, Monica Willier, who was with him at the time of the shooting – read more »
Price and Willier were out for a walk, "just trying to figure out our life," Monica said, when events unfolded.
She told The Journal Price was about "20 to 30 feet ahead" of her, talking to some people, when police "pulled up really quick and everyone scattered.
"Shawn started walking toward me and the next thing you know the cops told him he was under arrest. They asked him what he threw on the ground because they thought he had thrown down a weapon, but it wasn't, and he tried to tell them it wasn't."
Willier said Price had discarded a crack pipe. When he bent down to show police what it was, the situation escalated.
"Then the cops grabbed him and used force on him right away, and then Shawn tried to get away," Willier said.
"One hand was already cuffed at that time and then he ran. Then they caught him and threw him up against their car and started beating him.
"Then Shawn got away again, but this time he had no jacket or shirt on, and then he tripped over something and he fell, and they caught him again."
Willier said Shawn was on the ground and "under control" when the female officer fired the first of two shots.
Other witnesses said Price was standing when he was shot.
To Willier, it felt like 30 seconds passed before the second shot was fired. Again, other witnesses differed, saying the two shots came quickly, one after the other.
"He was under control. There was no reason for that," Willier said. "Why did she have to pull out the gun? Why didn't she just use the Taser?"
Acting police chief Norm Lipinski said that neither officer was carrying a Taser.
Willier said she and Price had been together for five years and had a three-year-old daughter, now staying with relatives.
She said Shawn was "angry that day" over family issues. They went for a walk so he could "let off steam."
All the information presented on this page has been compiled primarily from published media reports and should not be interpreted as having legal bearing or other prejudice against the individuals named on this web site.
The Last Link on the Left practices fair presentation and the disclosure of relevant interests.
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