Alberta Serious Incident Response Team investigating circumstances of male’s death

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a 59-year-old male, who went into medical distress while in police custody and died in hospital just over a week later.

On March 24, police responded to a report of an unwanted person at a southside residence. A 59-year-old male, who was agitated and acting erratically, was located at the scene and arrested for mischief. The male was physically restrained before being taken into custody. He was then placed inside a police vehicle and while officers were still on scene, he became unresponsive. He was immediately removed from the vehicle and EMS attended, transporting him to Chinook Regional Hospital where he was admitted. The male later died in hospital on April 2.

As required by the Alberta Police Act, the Director of Law Enforcement was initially notified on March 24. A further notification was provided April 2 following the man’s death. 

ASIRT investigators are currently in Lethbridge and the investigation is ongoing. 

All further media inquiries regarding this matter should be directed to ASIRT. 

ASIRT has jurisdiction over all sworn police officers in Alberta. Their mandate is to investigate incidents or complaints involving serious injury or the death of any person, and matters of a serious or sensitive nature, that may have resulted from the actions of a police officer. 

All media inquiries should be directed to the ASIRT media line: 780-641-9099