Cyrus Green, 17, was shot by police on February 5th, 2011.
Green was Edmonton's fifth homicide victim of the year.
The case is under investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.
victim remembered |
a troubled past |
the Edmonton Journal interview
charges laid against Green's associates
Edmonton police shot and killed a man near Rexall Place during the investigation of an armed robbery.
While investigating a robbery complaint at the Coliseum transit centre just after midnight February 5th, officers confronted a man near 72nd Street and 118th Avenue.
"The incident escalated to the point of an officer-involved shooting and as a result a male has died," Edmonton police said in an early release.
Members of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), the independent provincial body that overlooks the actions of police, drove up from Calgary to assist city homicide detectives in the investigation.
Forensics officers later taped off the parking lot and the alley near the Fireside Restaurant, using a metal detector and a broom to look for evidence under a fresh snowfall.
ASIRT executive director Clifton Purvis addressed media at the scene, outlining what was known and what challenges his team's investigation faced – read more »
Purvis said that when Edmonton police were investigating the robbery and weapons complaint at the LRT station they arrested two suspects at the scene.
Officers then chased a third man who had run off, stopping him on the parking lot of a restaurant between the north and southbound extensions of Wayne Gretzky Drive.
"During the pursuit, that individual approached a uniformed Edmonton Police Service member, ran at him while in possession of a knife and a bat," Purvis said.
"That member shot his police service weapon three times, striking the individual. The Edmonton Police Service reported the incident immediately.
"The individual, I understand, was running at the police officer and was shot at a distance of about six to eight feet from him," Purvis said.
"In the exact moment before he was shot, there was no physical confrontation between the officer that discharged the firearm and the deceased."
Purvis said they had yet to determine the actions of the officer before he pulled the trigger.
"Our investigation will determine what his action were, what the action of the police were prior to the exact moments before deceased was shot.
"Our goal really is to uncover the truth and try and determine whether or not the actions of the police officer were justified and lawful when he discharged the weapon.
"The member who discharged his weapon had another uniformed member with him at the time this took place."
Purvis was questioned about where other officers were at the time.
"That's part of our investigation and we'll determine exactly how far away the other police officers were."
It wasn't known if any of the officers were carrying a Taser.
The victim was a 17-year-old male who later died in hospital while undergoing emergency surgery.
"At this time, I can't identify the deceased. We're attempting to locate that individual's family," Purvis said.
A knife and a bat was gathered as evidence.
"It was a folding, locked blade, about four to five inches," Purvis said.
The ASIRT director stated the officer who shot the teen was a "mature" five-year veteran of the force. The officer wasn't named.
Purvis also said it didn't appear that the incident was recorded by area surveillance cameras and he didn't confirm whether the teen was involved in the original robbery incident.
"Our investigation is ongoing and I'm not ready to confirm that that incident is or was associated with the individual that was shot by police," he said.
There was no word on whether charges had been laid against two suspects who were arrested in connection with the original call to police.
Their names and ages were not released and Edmonton police continued to investigate that end of the matter.
One of the victims of the initial robbery was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
The Fireside Restaurant was closed at the time of the shooting, and owner Con Stavropoulos said that whatever happened in his parking lot happened after all his staff had left and that it had nothing to do with his establishment.
While ASIRT director Purvis didn't confirm that the 17-year-old was involved in the mugging call, the president of the Edmonton Police Association did – while at the same time defending the actions of the officer involved – read more »
"The suspect had robbed someone nearby in the Coliseum area," Tony Simioni said.
"There was a foot chase that just immediately preceded the confrontation with police. The person was challenged to put his weapons down and didn't.
"From our information, the officer had to make a very quick decision as to how to stop the suspect from hurting him.
"He used his training and used the force that he thought was appropriate at the time.
"It's never a pleasant moment in a police officer's career that he has to take a life but we are trained to defend ourselves and from the information that I have that's exactly what this officer was doing."
Simioni said the officer who fired the shots wasn't hurt.
"He is physically fine as are all the witnessing officers. A couple of them are emotionally shook up as could be expected under the circumstances.
"Up to now, everybody seems to be coping fairly well," Simioni continued.
"This officer had no other option. There is going to be some solace in that. Regardless, there is always going to be some second-guessing and some manner of wishing they could have done it without taking a life."
According to Simioni, at least four officers witnessed the shooting, and that the bat and the knife were in the teen’s hands when he lunged at the officer.
Police officers are trained to fire when they feel their own life or the life of another person is in immediate danger, he said.
"He responded in the way that he was trained to respond.
"It's always unfortunate and tragic when you have to use force at that level and a fatality results," Simioni said.
"There's a protocol whereby any officer involved in a shooting gets some administrative leave. That amount can vary depending on the circumstances and how that officer is coping.
"The same applies to the witness officers in this case because they were also right on scene when this happened and actually performed CPR before the ambulance arrived," Simioni pointed out.
The administrative leave is usually five days, and counselling is also offered to the officers' family members.
The shooting marked the second police-involved death in the Edmonton area in less than a month – read more »
On January 16th, RCMP were called to a complaint of a man threatening to harm himself with a firearm inside a residence in Strathcona County.
After eight hours of negotiations, the man waved his shotgun towards police "in a threatening manner." 56-year-old Murray McCoy died when officers opened fire.
The most recent Edmonton police-involved shooting took place less than a year before.
On January 16th, 2010, 48-year-old Bernadette Auger approached police with what was later learned to be an air pistol that had been painted black, making it look like a Sig Sauer P230, a .32 calibre handgun.
After Auger pointed the weapon at police and refused to drop it when told to do so, officers fatally shot her.
Prior to that, on May 10th, 2009, 36-year-old Shawn Michael Price was shot by police in front of an apartment building at 10207 107 Avenue after he reached for an officer's gun.
One of the Edmonton police officers using twitter, the micro-blogging website, posted sympathies that were soon re-tweeted with a second thought.
Victim remembered
On February 7th, friends and family of the shot man identified him as 17-year-old Cyrus Green.
No further details were released by police – other than to say that an autopsy had been completed.
Meanwhile, a memorial grew at the scene of the shooting.
A Oilers jersey-wearing teddy bear was placed beside a makeshift wooden cross. At a nearby utility pole were flowers, a candle and cards from loved ones.
"I will always miss you my son, but I know that one day we will see each other again, just not today," read a letter from the teen's mother.
"To my Cyrus, walk the world 4 U Dad. Till we see one another again Bone!!" read another letter signed "Love Dad."
The cross was planted by Fireside Restaurant server Candice Turner. She didn't know the teen but said he "still had a life," regardless of the circumstances.
"It's just a total tragedy," she said.
Those grieivng also set up a Justice for Cyrus Green page on Facebook, the popular social networking site.
In interviews with media, Green's friends questioned the actions of police – read more »
18-year-old Shayne Morley had known Cyrus for about six years. He said they lived in the same condominium complex after Cyrus had moved to Edmonton from Cold Lake and were "like brothers, we always stayed together."
The pair attended Londonderry Junior High School together but Cyrus didn't finish high school and was looking forward to completing his education, possibly at Centre High.
In the meantime, Cyrus seemed to have gotten into some trouble and had been enrolled in a youth shelter program.
"He was trying to change, trying to go back to school – get his life back together," Shayne said.
Details of Cyrus Green's possible criminal past may never be known due to provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, whose conditions remain in place even though the teen is deceased.
Shayne said he last saw his friend the morning before he was shot.
"He slept here Thursday, then he said 'Bro, I'll be back.' "
According to Shayne, Cyrus had been jumped and pepper-sprayed at the Coliseum LRT station before fleeing and then running into police, adding his friend wouldn't have charged at them with weapons.
"I don't think he would do something like that," he said.
"He has a baseball bat and a knife. How's he going to swing the bat with one hand?
"They could have tackled him, they could have Tasered him, they could have called for more backup ... that's overkill, shooting someone three times," Shane said.
"If the cops had a Taser gun drawn at him and they told him to get on the ground he would have gone on the ground.
"I'm kind of mad at the cops," he added. "The cops could have used a different force."
Another friend said Cyrus lived with his mother in Abbottsfield and described the lanky teen as quiet, shy and funny – and someone who didn't look for trouble unless someone started something with him.
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At the memorial site, members of Green's family tried to come to terms with their loss – read more »
"I'm trying to understand what happened to my grandson."
"I was beginning to like cops but now I got no use for them. They're supposed to protect these youths, not take their ... get rid of them," Cyrus' mother Carol said.
"He loved his mom, he always told me he loved me," she said.
"He's a cool brother," Josh said. "He always said he loved me and I never got to say it back."
Cyrus also left behind siblings Matthew, Anita, Angie, Tim and Trevor, and his father who still lived in Cold Lake.
Others dropped by the memorial site to pay their respects.
"Was there no other way to talk him down?" an unnamed bystander wondered. "What happened? Those are the questions going through my mind."
A troubled past
Despite the widely-held interpretation of the Youth Criminal Justice Act that prevents media from releasing details of a juvenile's criminal past, CBC Edmonton revealed that Cyrus Green was a wanted man on the night he was shot.
In a report aired and published on February 9th, 2011, the CBC stated that Green had a record of robbery and assault convictions, was an alcoholic, and had spent considerable time behind bars – read more »
"Cyrus was an alcoholic," recalled Wallis Kendall, who works with troubled youth. "At the bottom line, that's the driving force.
"But he was a really good kid. When he was sober he was really fun. He had a good sense of humour and a lot of people liked him."
The last time Kendall saw Green, the teen was at the Edmonton Young Offender Centre.
"He spent the last few years mostly in EYOC," he said.
"He ended up in EYOC on a number of occasions due to the fact of drinking and having things go wrong when he was drinking.
"When you're drinking, you become fearless – you become very bold and you're not afraid to do stuff," Kendall noted. "And that was Cyrus."
The youth worker figured the loss of a family member to violence two years earlier had a profound impact on Green.
"I think that was something that really bugged him," he said. "Everybody tells me it really bothered him a lot."
Again, the CBC revealed details normally suppressed by provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act by naming Green's relative – also a 17-year-old – in their report (which can be online read here or as reproduced here).
The Last Link report of the April 2009 death – which ironically also involved baseball bats and knives – can be seen here.
On the day he died, Green was wanted by police for breaching a community supervision order.
CBC reported that friend Shayne Morley told them that Cyrus had spent the evening before he was shot in a nightclub.
The public broadcaster also reported that the officer who shot Green was not carrying a Taser.
The Edmonton Journal interview
In a dramatic interview with the Edmonton Journal 's Jana Pruden, Cyrus' sister Anita and their mother Carol told of what they knew regarding the events surrounding the death of their loved one.
Sometimes finishing each other's sentences, the two presented a much different – but seemingly plausible – accounting of what happened that morning on 118th Avenue – read more »
"Cyrus and Dylan were walking in front. Matthew was in the back," Anita said, repeating what a friend of her brother told her.
"He said this black guy approached Cyrus and Dylan – sprayed them – and he comes running with this bat and he starts hitting that black guy.
"They take off running after that. They back to their friend's house and they went back to the Coliseum.
"And by the time they got back to the Coliseum the cops said they were trying to rob somebody.
"Somebody called and said they got robbed. It was the other way around," the mother and daughter said.
"I just didn't think that thy deserved to die. He didn't deserve ..." Anita continued.
"One shot ... he could have been arrested. They could have got, you know, charged him.
"But what does this ... what can they do now?
"Are they happy that they shot him? Are they satisfied that he's gone? One less aboriginal?
"It's not fair that he doesn't get to come home ... that we don't get to see him."
Carol Green broke in.
"He didn't like the police either. He couldn't stand the police," she said.
"How did they find it so necessary to shoot him three times?" Anita wondered.
"If he got shot once he would have dropped everything and he would have just said okay.
"He probably just wasn't in the right state – he was so scared being bear-maced – his eyes were just burning to the max and he was just scared," Anita said.
"Plus too he was half cut. I wanna know how much alcohol was in his system," Carol questioned.
"It wasn't the right state of mind. I know he wouldn't have done anything," Anita added.
Carol then offered a chilling account of her son's last moments.
"The part that pisses me off is – his friend, all he heard Cyrus was saying, his last words were 'Get the F off me, get the F off me' and bam bam bam. Three shots.
"That's the part that pisses me off," Carol said through tears.
Anita chimed in.
"That's what his friend says his last words were. 'Get the F off me, get off of me.'
"Then all of a sudden, three shots went off. That was it."
Carol recalled the last time she saw her son.
"He told me that he loved me when I last seen him on Friday. He said 'Mom Mom. I love you, be careful okay.' "
The mother then expressed every parent's worst fear.
"My kids were going to bury me ... not me burying my baby," she said.
A video of the Edmonton Journal interview can be seen here »
Local radio station 630 CHED reported that in addition to the ASIRT investigation, the Edmonton Police Service was conducting its own review.
Quoting an unnamed EPS source, the station said a special team was "examining almost everything from what precipitated the shooting, the events that followed to the background of everyone involved."
The team first met on February 7th. There was no official word from police as to the mandate of that second investigation.
The two teens arrested in connection with the robbery made their first court appearance on February 8th. No details were made available regarding what charges they faced.
After a four-day prayer vigil, the funeral for Cyrus Green was held on February 12th at St. Raphael's Church on the Cold Lake First Nation.
Charges laid against Green's associates
On February 18th, police laid charges against two teens allegedly involved in a series of armed robberies that took place at the Coliseum transit centre shortly before Cyrus Green was shot.
Information released by police suggested all involved had violent tendencies – read more »
At approximately 11:00 p.m. on February 4th, 2011, police received the first report of a personal robbery at the transit centre.
Three teens allegedly approached a man and threatened him with a knife while demanding money and other property. The man was slashed at but protected himself with his backpack and managed run away unharmed.
The same three youths then approached two teenaged girls and a man standing together at the terminal. They asked one of the girls for a cigarette. She was then allegedly held at knife point while the teens demanded jewelry from both girls.
When the teens approached the male in the group, he discharged bear spray which led to an altercation with one of the suspects who was brandishing a bat.
All three in this second robbery managed to escape unharmed. They told a bus driver about the incident and police were notified.
In the third matter, the three teens walked up to a man and woman waiting for a bus and demanded money and other property. The man tried to escape but was knocked to the ground and suffered a slash wound to his face severe enough to require stitches.
By this time, police were on scene and the female in the third incident ran to an officer for help.
Police then gave chase to the three suspects, catching up to two of them and placing them under arrest.
The third teen was shot by police.
Detectives said they determined that alcohol was a factor in the robberies.
A 16-year-old male faced five counts of robbery and was charged eight counts of breach of recognizance and probation. He appears in court on February 25th.
A 17-year-old male also faced five counts of robbery and was charged with three counts of breach of probation. He appears in court on March 2nd.
Both teens remain in custody at the Edmonton Young Offenders Centre.
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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