On April 14, 2021, at approximately 2 p.m., Fort Saskatchewan RCMP attended a residence for a report of an adult female in distress who was in possession of a weapon.
The Fort Saskatchewan RCMP attended the residence and arrested the adult female. While one of the RCMP officers was escorting the female to the police vehicle, the female was verbally aggressive and an interaction occurred between the RCMP officer and the female that resulted in her being injured.
The adult female was assessed by Emergency Medical Services at the Fort Saskatchewan Detachment and then taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The adult female remained in the hospital's care due to earlier concerns of her being in distress.
An internal review of the incident between the officer and the adult female was conducted. As a result, the involved RCMP officer was placed on administrative duties on April 23, 2021, and a Statutory Investigation into the incident was initiated. The Director of Law Enforcement was notified and deemed the matter to be "out of scope" of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team and advised it would remain with the Alberta RCMP.
As a result of the statutory investigation, Constable Sean Robert Avery has been charged with Assault Causing Bodily Harm and is scheduled to appear in Fort Saskatchewan Provincial Court on March 17, 2022.
Cst. Avery has 20 years of service with the RCMP. He has been suspended with pay since April 27, 2021. Once the criminal matter has been resolved, his duty status will be reviewed.
The Alberta RCMP believes in processes that seek the facts and it's important that processes taken to assess the actions of all those involved, including the police, are fair, transparent and defendable. This is why, when we become aware of a situation that requires review, we immediately initiate internal processes to look at the totality of the incident, including the actions of the RCMP, the use of force during the incident and the duty status of the member.
As this matter is now before the courts, the Alberta RCMP are unable to provide further information.