BUFFALO NARROWS — Saskatchewan’s civilian-led Serious Incident Response Team has determined no charges should be laid in an incident where a Buffalo Narrows RCMP vehicle fatally struck a pedestrian.
SIRT was notified of the incident on Aug. 29, 2024, at approximately 6:04 a.m. A SIRT team consisting of the Civilian Executive Director and four SIRT investigators was immediately deployed to Buffalo Narrows and Turnor Lake to begin the investigation.
An autopsy examination was conducted shortly after the incident that determined the pedestrian’s cause of death as multiple blunt force trauma injuries. Toxicology examination confirmed the presence of alcohol and cocaine within the affected person’s body at the time of the collision.
The SIRT investigation determined the affected person, dressed in black, had left a bar in La Loche and appeared unsteady on his feet upon entering a black pickup truck with four other occupants.
Later, that person was believed to be the individual who had fled from the black truck during a traffic stop, and was struck by a police vehicle about three quarters of an hour later.
“At the time when the affected person was struck on the highway, the Subject Officer was responding to an unrelated call where an individual had already been struck by a vehicle,” states the SIRT’s final report. “That call required an urgent response and unquestionably justified the use of emergency equipment and speeds that exceeded the posted speed limit. Within the context of that response, the Subject Officer demonstrated awareness of the challenges posed by the reduced visibility at the time of the incident, and responsiveness to those conditions by varying the police vehicle’s speeds as appropriate. The affected person’s presence on the highway, lying in the lane of travel while dressed in black, presented an unforeseen event that resulted in an unavoidable and tragic collision.”
SIRT's mandate is to independently investigate incidents where an individual has died or suffered serious injury arising from the actions of on and off-duty police officers, or while in the custody of police, as well as allegations of sexual assault or interpersonal violence involving police.
