A man has died following an altercation with St. Paul RCMP at the Hampton hotel July 31.
RCMP responded to a disturbance complaint from the hotel in the early morning hours of July 31 where a man was reportedly breaking windows in the building.
A confrontation between responding officers and the suspect resulted in a physical altercation, during which the male became unresponsive and was taken to the hospital where he was declared deceased, according to an RCMP press release.
An officer sustained minor injuries and has been released from the hospital, and does not require further medical attention, according to the press release.
Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating the incident.
"The Director of Law Enforcement has been notified and the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has been directed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death. The RCMP remains the lead investigating agency on the events leading up to the serious incident, with ASIRT having carriage of the review of police actions," reads the release.
Tim Bear, executive director of St. Paul Abilities Network, told the Journal that a "guest of a guest" caused some damage to property in the hotel lobby area. The hotel is owned by Charity Development Ltd, under the umbrella of SPAN.
"It was not a shooting, no guns were involved," Bear said Tuesday morning. He added no staff were harmed during the incident.
“We’ve repaired all the damage, but it’s more about being very proud of all of our staff and how they handled this. They are amazing," he said.
Bear said he was unable to comment on details regarding the incident as it is an active investigation.
St. Paul Fire Chief Trevor Kotowich confirmed his department responded to a "medical assist" call at the hotel at 2:25 a.m.
One of their firemen later drove an ambulance to the St. Paul hospital from the scene.
ASIRT later said in a press release, dated Aug. 1, that the man was found barricaded inside a storage room, after damaging vehicles in the parking lot and breaking three windows at the hotel.
"At some point, the man left the room and confronted the officers outside. During an ensuing struggle, the man went into medical distress and became unresponsive. Officers administered CPR until Emergency Medical Services arrived and provided emergency treatment. An ambulance took the man to hospital, but he could not be revived," the release reads.
