A lawyer representing grieving family members of a 28-year-old Edmonton man who was fatally shot by a police officer nearly two weeks ago says they are angry and gathering information about what happened.
Tom Engel, a criminal defence and civil rights lawyer and frequent critic of the Edmonton Police Service (EPS), said the family wants to know why a police officer shot Mathios Arkangelo while he was holding his hands in the air.
“There’s absolutely no justification for using lethal force,” he told CBC News in an interview on Thursday.
The province’s police watchdog, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), is investigating the shooting, which occurred in daylight on June 29 on a residential street in the Fraser neighbourhood in northeast Edmonton.
Others are also scrutinizing the circumstances around the death of Arkangelo, who was Black.
Community leaders and allies are gathering in north Edmonton Friday night for an emergency town hall about policing and fears of police brutality toward racialized people.
A crowdfunding campaign calling for justice has raised more than $17,000 to support Arkangelo’s family. Engel said he had a common-law spouse and child.
A memorial set up at the intersection of Fraser Way and Fraser Vista includes a sign describing Arkangelo as innocent.
The sign says Arkangelo was a great person — caring, funny, smart, athletic and loved.
How police have described what happened
In a June 30 news release, EPS said patrol officers were dispatched to the area of 153rd Avenue and Anthony Henday Drive in the evening of June 29 for a reported single-vehicle rollover collision involving an impaired driver.
Witnesses told police, according to the news release, that the vehicle’s male driver had fled the collision scene on foot.
After a confrontation, the release said, a police officer discharged a firearm and struck the man. EMS responded and treated him but he died of his injuries.
On Tuesday — one week after EPS sent its news release — ASIRT released new details about the fatal shooting.
It said a 911 caller had reported the rollover to police just before 9 p.m. Officers started looking for the driver nearby and the EPS Air 1 helicopter began flying over the area.
At 9:21 p.m., a police officer in a vehicle reported over his radio that he had found a person matching the description of the man who had fled on foot.
According to ASIRT’s news release, the man walked toward the officer’s police car as the officer drove toward him with his emergency lights on.
At approximately 9:22 p.m., the officer stopped the car and stepped out of it. The man stopped walking and raised his arms to his sides, while facing the officer, who had his gun drawn.
The release said the officer and the man “engaged verbally with each other” before the subject officer fired his gun at the man, who was struck and dropped to the ground.
Security footage emerges
Video footage from a house surveillance camera provided to CBC News shows Arkangelo — wearing a white T-shirt, light-coloured pants, black shoes and black baseball cap — walking on Fraser Way.
He is seen crossing the street, speaking, holding what appears to be a cellphone, walking north, then sitting down at the side of the road.
Arkangelo had asked people on the street to call police because his car had been stolen, witnesses told CBC News.
The video, which does not contain audio, shows a police vehicle driving up and stopping in front of Arkangelo, then a police officer getting out.
Arkangelo then appears to reach into his pocket with his right hand and show something to the officer, who had his gun drawn.
Arkangelo has his arms outstretched. In the video recording, his right hand is blocked by a pole.
Video from another home’s security camera, which also does not contain audio, shows Arkangelo shuffling forward before a bullet flies through his body. The back of his T-shirt billowed outward with the force.
An object drops from his right hand.
After being shot, Arkangelo walks two steps backward, then a few steps forward, before turning and lying on the road.
According to the video, more than two minutes go by before police officers approach with guns drawn. An officer rolls Arkangelo’s body onto his stomach and handcuffs him.
Other police officers arrive at the scene.
Seconds later, officers appear to put Arkangelo in the recovery position, which can help an unconscious person breathe, and begin first aid. At least nine officers can be seen standing around him.
Paramedics arrived nine minutes after he was shot.
What was Arkangelo holding?
Engel said Arkangelo’s family believes he was holding a utility knife, which he carried all the time and used for work around the yard.
Neither the EPS or ASIRT news release mentioned a weapon being found at the scene.
Temitope Oriola, a criminology professor at the University of Alberta, said he has watched five different videos of the incident. He said Arkangelo was holding a pocket knife.
He said Arkangelo was several metres away from the police officer and was not rushing toward him. He said the pocket knife was not being brandished in a menacing way.
“The officer was not in any danger that is obvious to the naked eye,” he said.
Oriola said police services in Alberta are involved in more shooting deaths of civilians per capita than in any other province.
Halfway through the year, ASIRT is on pace for its busiest year ever, examining 42 cases, including nine deaths.
EPS and ASIRT both declined to answer questions about the police response, citing the ongoing ASIRT investigation.
EPS spokesperson Cheryl Sheppard said EPS recognizes the impact the tragedy has had on the victim’s family, the broader community and the first responders who were there.
She said the police officer is currently on leave, which is standard process after a critical incident.
Context missing, says expert
Steven Summerville, a retired Toronto police officer and police tactics expert, said officers consider public safety and whether any lives are in jeopardy when deciding whether to discharge their weapons.
Summerville has watched two videos of the incident, provided to him by CBC News, and said they do not capture everything that occurred.
He said he could not tell whether Arkangelo was holding a knife or whether the officer’s life was in danger.
Summerville said a knife can be a significant threat, depending on the context. He would want to know what Arkangelo was saying to the officer.
“Even though there’s some distance, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that a person can rapidly move towards an officer and stab a police officer,” he said.
ASIRT could recommend charges be laid against the officer who shot Arkangelo, however a decision on whether or not to prosecute would be made by the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service.