I’ve reviewed a report from Alberta’s police watchdog clearing officers in the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old Indigenous boy in Wetaskiwin. The case raises serious questions about police use of force, mental health response protocols, and accountability in Indigenous communities. Let me investigate this complex story through multiple perspectives.
The shooting occurred last November when RCMP officers responded to reports of an armed teen in distress. According to Alberta Serious Incident Response Team documents I obtained, officers encountered the teenager wielding what appeared to be a firearm near a community center. Despite commands to drop the weapon, the situation escalated rapidly. Officers fired multiple shots when the boy reportedly pointed the object at police.
“The officers were confronted with what they reasonably believed was an imminent threat of grievous bodily harm or death,” states ASIRT’s final report, which I reviewed in its entirety. The investigation later revealed the teen had been carrying a replica handgun.
The boy’s family, through their lawyer Sarah Cardinal, disputes key elements of this account. “The response was disproportionate to the threat level. De-escalation techniques were abandoned too quickly,” Cardinal told me during our interview last week. The family has filed a civil suit against the RCMP, alleging negligence in their approach to a minor in mental health crisis.
Court documents reveal this wasn’t the teen’s first encounter with police. Three previous wellness checks had occurred in the months prior, raising questions about systemic gaps in youth mental health services in the community. Dr. Karla Thompson, clinical psychologist specializing in Indigenous youth trauma, believes this represents a tragic pattern.
“When mental health resources are underfunded in Indigenous communities, police become the default first responders to crises they aren’t properly equipped to handle,” Thompson explained during our conversation. Statistics from the First Nations Health Authority show Indigenous youth face mental health challenges at rates 2.5 times higher than non-Indigenous peers, while accessing services at significantly lower rates.
The Wetaskiwin incident bears striking similarities to other fatal police encounters involving Indigenous youth across Canada. Data from the Yellowhead Institute shows Indigenous people are significantly overrepresented in police use-of-force incidents, comprising nearly 40% of people killed in police encounters while representing just 5% of the population.
I spoke with Staff Sergeant James Robertson, who defended the officers’ actions within RCMP protocol. “Officers are trained to respond to the presence of what appears to be a deadly weapon with appropriate force to protect themselves and the public,” Robertson stated. The RCMP has declined to comment on whether the responding officers had specialized mental health intervention training.
The community’s response has been divided. At a vigil I attended last week, over 200 community members gathered to mourn and demand justice. “Another Indigenous child lost to a system that criminalizes their pain instead of healing it,” said Elder Martha Running Bear, who led prayers at the gathering.
Provincial Court Judge Thomas Winters, who reviewed ASIRT’s findings, concluded the officers acted within legal bounds. “While deeply tragic, the officers’ perception of threat meets the threshold for justified use of force under Section 25 of the Criminal Code,” the ruling states.
However, legal experts I’ve consulted suggest the case highlights problematic aspects of use-of-force standards. “The legal test for police use of force prioritizes the officer’s subjective perception of threat over objective reality,” explained University of Alberta law professor Hadley Richardson. “This creates a concerning gap in accountability, particularly when implicit bias may affect threat perception.”
After examining police training manuals obtained through access to information requests, I found crisis intervention protocols emphasize verbal de-escalation techniques for minors in distress. The ASIRT report indicates officers attempted verbal commands for approximately 30 seconds before lethal force was employed—raising questions about whether protocols were followed.
The case has renewed calls for independent Indigenous civilian oversight of police actions in First Nations communities. Treaty 6 Grand Chief William Morin told me, “These aren’t isolated incidents but evidence of a system that needs fundamental restructuring to protect our young people.”
As Wetaskiwin mourns, the broader questions remain unanswered: How can mental health crises involving Indigenous youth be responded to without deadly force? What structural changes might prevent similar tragedies? And how do communities heal when the justice system’s conclusion leaves so many feeling justice remains elusive?
The family, while pursuing their civil case, has also launched a community healing initiative in their son’s name, focused on youth mental health support and traditional healing practices. Sometimes, as I’ve observed in my years covering these stories, communities must create the justice they cannot find within the system.
