CALGARY — A machete-wielding man shot with anti-riot guns after lighting fires at Calgary City Hall ended up losing a testicle in what Alberta’s police watchdog is calling a necessary use of force.
Police responded in August 2022 to calls about a man breaking into the building and setting at least three fires, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team said in a report released Thursday.
ASIRT executive director Michael Ewenson said officers arrived to find a man holding a machete and demanded he drop it. The man refused, and police tried to disarm him using an anti-riot gun that shoots hard plastic bullets, also called an ARWEN.
It ended up causing "significant injury" to the man's genitals, the report said.
The man's left testicle had to be surgically removed, while only a portion of the right could be saved, Ewenson said in the decision.
"This was an unfortunate and unintended consequence of a lawful use of force," Ewenson wrote. "The use of an ARWEN by the subject officers was proportionate, necessary and reasonable in all of the circumstances."
Police previously said the man may have been having a mental health crisis. Officers interviewed by ASIRT said the man was agitated and manic, and one described the scene as chaotic.
The agency said the man's medical records showed he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2006 and had a history of violent episodes when he didn't take his prescribed medications.
It said police fired nine rounds, but none got the man to surrender or put down the machete. One of the officers saw the man get hit in the groin.
Police eventually convinced the man to drop the machete. He was then taken into custody.
The report said the man spoke of being upset because police didn't respond to emails he sent earlier in the evening and that the fires were meant to be a consequence of "police inaction."
"It was also noted that he was 'upset with the law,' and 'wished for them to be crucified, on life support and die for eternity,'" Ewenson said.
Medical records show the man sustained bruising to his thigh, torso, abdomen, hip, upper groin, back and legs. He also had deep cuts on one of his hands, as well as a bite from a police dog that was so severe it exposed muscle on his forearm.
The man told investigators he felt the shot to his groin was deliberate, said the report.
ASIRT said the officer who shot the man denied aiming for the groin. The report said the officer told investigators the groin and genitals are not preferred target areas but the limbs and backside are.
The officer said he negotiated with the man and convinced him to put down the machete after presenting the emails on a cellphone.
"All he wanted was police to check the emails he sent them," Ewenson said. "(The man) stated once (the officer) accessed and acknowledged his concerns, he then complied with police demands."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2024.
— By Aaron Sousa in Edmonton
The Canadian Press