Incident on Wednesday resulted in death of 27-year-old man

Alberta's police watchdog says a man used a tactical-style shotgun in a deadly armed confrontation with police on a major highway south of Edmonton Wednesday. 

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating a May 6 incident that started with a gun complaint in Blackfalds, Alta., and ended with a shootout that left a 27-year-old man dead and an RCMP officer seriously injured on the QEII Highway near Leduc.

According to ASIRT, RCMP first responded to a gun complaint at a Blackfalds home at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday. The armed man fired shots from the residence, which seriously injured a woman inside her home. No shots were fired by police. The man then fled the area in a Black BMW sedan.

Police located the sedan heading north on the QEII Highway and deployed a tire deflation device after a brief pursuit, but it did not stop the vehicle. The BMW then crossed the highway median and started travelling north in the southbound lanes.

The vehicle eventually stopped with police vehicles surrounding it. The man, the lone occupant in the vehicle, got out of the sedan and exchanged gunfire with police.

 

The man was injured and fell to the ground. He died on scene. A police officer was also injured in the confrontation.

"Officers on scene provided emergency medical assistance to both the man and the injured officer, but the man was pronounced dead on scene," the ASIRT release says.

The injured officer was taken to hospital in Edmonton and has since been released. 

The man's firearm, described by police as a 12-gauge, semi-automatic, tactical-style shotgun, was recovered from the scene.

Police have not released the man's name. 

ASIRT is asking members of the public who may have witnessed or recorded the events, to contact investigators.