A Calgary police officer has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder after the occupants of a van were shot dead following a slow-speed pursuit in 2023.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, also known as ASIRT, announced the charges in a news release Tuesday.
Calgary police, in a statement, said the officer charged is on leave from the service.
The shooting took place on the morning of May 29, 2023, after police were called to a report of suspicious persons on private property, who then fled the scene in a stolen cube van.
Police said at the time that additional calls were then received about the white cube van driving erratically on Memorial Drive.
Video of the chase shows the van being followed by a number of police vehicles at a crawling pace, and police said at the time that "rapidly changing dynamics" led one officer to shoot the occupants of the van.
"Two of the occupants were struck and later pronounced deceased," said ASIRT in the news release.
Neither ASIRT nor Calgary police have provided further details on what exactly led to the officer shooting at the occupants of the van, citing the fact the case is before the courts.
But ASIRT's release said its investigation into police handling of the incident "provided reasonable grounds to believe that offences had been committed" by the officer who shot at the van.
Const. Craig Stothard was charged Monday. He appeared in court Tuesday on the two counts and was released on bail with conditions.
At the time of the shooting, he had 13 years of service with Calgary police.
Calgary police said in their statement that they understand the seriousness of the charges and how events like this can damage community trust in police.
"We recognize the profound impact that this incident has had on all involved and, on behalf of the (Calgary Police Service), we extend our condolences to the family members who are grieving," the statement reads.
"We are committed to listening, learning and taking every possible step to understand what can be learned from what happened."
The two victims in the case were identified by media after the shooting as Wesley Davidson, 46, and Levon Boyce Fox, 39. A third person in the van was uninjured and taken into custody.
An obituary posted online at the time of Fox's death stated he is lovingly remembered by his family, including his daughters, son and wife.
"Our beloved Levon made several friends everywhere he went -- too many to mention," the obituary said. "As he would say, his 'street' friends were 'real.' These friends were family to him."
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
