Police were justified in the fatal 2024 shooting of a 15-year-old Indigenous boy in Wetaskiwin because he intimated he was pointing a gun at one of the officers, according to Alberta’s police watchdog.
Hoss Lightning, who is not named in Thursday’s report by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), was shot and killed by two RCMP officers – who fired a combined 17 rounds towards the boy – on Aug. 30, 2024. Hoss was identified shortly after his death by a Samson Cree Nation band councillor.
ASIRT says the officers are cleared of all wrongdoing because Hoss twice placed his hand inside his backpack and raised it towards an officer’s face – a gesture that could be interpreted as threatening him with a weapon.
The teenager did not actually have a gun in his backpack.
Much of the interaction was available to ASIRT through recordings, CCTV security video and WatchGuard video.
“I’ve given you instructions, this is all for your benefit and for your safety, OK, because you’re an at-risk youth,” the officer can be heard saying at the moment the interaction takes a turn. “What are you doing? Don’t reach into that! Don’t reach into it! Don’t reach into it! Don’t reach into it!”
The boy then runs away from the officer.
“He pretended that there was a gun in his knapsack and went to shoot me with it,” the officer says over the radio.
“I did not actually see a firearm, but that was a little harrowing,” he added.
On the second occasion, after the officer caught up with the boy in a nearby field, the police watchdog says the teenager walked towards the officer “with purpose,” despite repeated demands to show his hands.
“He’s got his hand in his knapsack, he’s coming towards me, I’m backing up,” he says over the radio.
“I will (expletive) pop you! I will (expletive) pop you! I will (expletive) shoot you!”
It’s at that moment that a second officer arrived on the scene, and both Mounties fired their weapons. The newly arrived officer fired a second round of shots because he “could not tell if the rounds were effective,” the report details, and thought there could be a “continued threat to his life and (the other officer).”
An autopsy found Hoss died of a gunshot wound to the chest.
The entire interaction with police began after Hoss himself called 911 in the early hours of Aug. 30. He told dispatch he was being followed by people who wanted to kill him.
The responding officer discovered Hoss was an at-risk youth who had been reported missing from a group home by Edmonton police. During the subsequent 31-minute interaction, Hoss handed over weapons to police when asked – a machete and a knife. Both items were placed on the front passenger seat of his police vehicle.
The officer tried unsuccessfully to reach the boy’s grandmother on multiple occasions. After speaking to a supervisor, the officer was asked apprehend Hoss and take him to the group home directly.
Alberta’s police watchdog says that’s when the teenager’s mood switched – from cooperative to combative – leading to Hoss reaching into his backpack.
