Calgary police officer charged with 2 counts of 2nd-degree murder
CBC
A Calgary police officer has been charged with murder following a 2023 police shooting that left two men dead.
Const. Craig Stothard faces two charges of second-degree murder stemming from a shooting that took place on May 29, 2023.
Court documents identify Wesley Davidson and Levon Boyce Fox as the two victims killed in the shooting.
On Tuesday, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) — a provincial agency that investigates incidents where death or serious injury may have been caused by police — announced the charges following its two-year investigation.
According to Stothard's lawyer Don MacLeod, the officer "maintains his innocence and he intends to mount a full and vigorous defence."
Stothard was released on $1,000 bail on Tuesday under a number of conditions, including a weapons prohibition and an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.
He must also surrender his passport, remain in the province and provide his fingerprints.
Stothard's next court appearance is on Thursday.
The incident took place along Memorial Drive, a major road through inner-city Calgary.
On May 29, 2023, just after 10 a.m., a security guard reported three "suspicious and impaired individuals" on a private property, according to Calgary police at the time.
The three men fled in a stolen five-ton cube van that was then reportedly being driven in an erratic and dangerous manner along westbound Memorial Drive.
Officers followed the slow-moving vehicle as it continued swerving along the road. Police vehicles were placed in strategic locations to make sure the van didn't get into the heavily populated downtown.
A number of attempts were made to contain the van, but because of its size, it broke through the containment.
Police say 45 minutes after the incident began, the situation escalated to the point where one officer discharged their firearm, killing two of the suspects inside the vehicle.
Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating after an officer involved shooting at Danforth Go station early Saturday morning, said Toronto police.
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