Use-of-force by police in 2021 New Year’s Eve fatal shooting justified: ASIRT
Posted March 6, 2025 3:14 pm.
Alberta’s police watchdog — the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) — says no charges will be laid against an Edmonton police officer following a fatal shooting in December 2021.
ASIRT says they began their investigation into a fatal officer-involved shooting after being alerted to the incident on Dec. 31, 2021.
EPS reportedly responded to a “trouble unknown” call around 3:35 a.m. on Dec. 31, near 120 Avenue and 93 Street in northwest Edmonton.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found 31-year-old Sheldon Johnson dead.
An autopsy later confirmed that Johnson had reportedly died of a gunshot wound and the manner of death was a homicide.
Through an investigation, it was found that Johnson had been killed by a man who was linked to an incident involving police earlier in the day when officers reportedly noticed a Chrysler 300 listed as stolen being driven, being the incident investigated by ASIRT.
From there, the driver of the Chrysler tried to flee police, driving into a parked car, and later hitting a snowbank near 92 Street and 112 Avenue.
The driver was reportedly unsuccessful in trying to free the car from the snowbank and reportedly exited the vehicle with a sawed-off shotgun.
Reports indicate that he fired the shotgun at a marked police vehicle, hitting the driver’s door.
Following this, four EPS officers fired their service weapons, killing the 33-year-old suspect.
ASIRT’s investigation determined that the officer’s use-of-force was justified to prevent death or harm to officers or any other person.
