EDMONTON – There will be no criminal charges against an Edmonton officer who sliced the thigh of a man with a baton launcher after he threatened the chief of police.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, in a report issued Wednesday, said the officer’s use of force was “authorized by law, reasonable and not excessive.”
The report said it began when the suspect called police on Aug. 19, 2024, and again a day later, threatening Dale McFee, who was the chief at the time.
Edmonton police badge seen in Edmonton, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
“(The man) later said that he made those calls because he was frustrated with comments that the chief made, and because these comments had intensified his mental health issues related to past interactions with police,” the report said.
The report did not say what kind of threats were made toward the police chief.
On Aug. 20, police tactical teams moved to arrest the man, ordering him to the ground when he got out of his vehicle at a mall parking lot.
The suspect refused and instead, said the report, “yelled at the officers to shoot him.”
“(The man) said that he decided then to fight them out of fear of being assaulted, and due to his mental health issues,” the report said.
One officer shot three rounds from his less-lethal baton launcher. He fired low, with one projectile opening a five-centimetre cut on the right thigh. The man continued to yell after he was arrested and again said “kill me” to the officers, the report said.
He later told investigators that he felt that the officer was targeting his groin area. None of the projectiles landed there.
The report said targeting the area would constitute excessive force, but “there is no evidence that the (subject officer) did so.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2026.