KAWACATOOSE FIRST NATION — The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) has completed its investigation and cleared an officer of blame following a police-involved serious incident on Kawacatoose First Nation.
On April 8, 2025, at approximately 10:12 p.m., while travelling through Kawacatoose First Nation en route to a call for service, an RCMP vehicle struck a 16-year-old male pedestrian in the southbound lane of travel, causing serious injury.
SIRT received a notification at approximately 11:02 p.m. from the Saskatchewan RCMP regarding the serious incident involving police.
SIRT determined in its March 11, 2026, report that at the time of the incident, the two RCMP vehicles were travelling with emergency equipment activated on both vehicles at a high rate of speed when the lead vehicle, the Chevrolet Tahoe operated by the witness officer, was signalled to stop by a pedestrian, later determined to be the affected person, who was standing in the west ditch and waving his arms, approximately 600 metres from the location of the call.
The witness officer immediately applied the brakes on the Tahoe, coming to a stop adjacent to the affected person. The affected person stepped from the west ditch of the road into the southbound lane of travel as the witness officer rolled down the driver’s-side window of the Tahoe and asked the affected person if he was injured.
As the affected person stepped into the southbound lane of travel, the second RCMP vehicle, the Ford F-150 operated by the subject officer, observed the lead vehicle had stopped suddenly in front of him in the northbound lane of travel. The F-150 was travelling at a speed between 113 km/h and 128 km/h when braking was initiated, but despite the onset of braking, was unable to stop before a collision with the rear of the Tahoe would occur.
To avoid a collision with the lead vehicle, the subject officer swerved into the southbound lane of travel and continued braking; however, the affected person came into view and, at approximately 10:12 p.m., the police vehicle struck the affected person in the southbound lane of travel while travelling at a speed between 75 km/h and 94 km/h.
After being struck by the police vehicle, the affected person was thrown forward into the west ditch of the road. The subject officer immediately exited his vehicle and provided assistance to the affected person, while the witness officer requested EMS.
SIRT stated that while the speeds of the involved RCMP vehicle would undoubtedly be considered excessive in the context of normal civilian travel, or even routine police duties, the nature of the call to which the involved RCMP members were dispatched warranted a rapid response and required travel in excess of typical speeds.
At the time when the subject officer was involved in the collision with the affected person, he was operating a fully marked police vehicle with emergency equipment activated and travelling on a clear, dry road where other traffic can be described as light or absent. While the overall environmental conditions were clear, the lead police vehicle created significant dust in its path, which, combined with the active emergency equipment on the lead vehicle, served to obscure the brake lights on that vehicle and delay the subject officer’s awareness that the lead vehicle had come to a rapid stop.
When considering all of these factors, the conduct of the subject officer cannot be said to represent a marked departure from the standard expected of a reasonable police officer in similar circumstances.
“While the collision with the affected person was an unexpected and serious outcome, it occurred in the context of a police response to an emergent and potentially life-threatening situation which required urgent action and cannot be viewed in isolation,” SIRT stated.
The totality of the circumstances, including the call for service and the overall environmental and traffic conditions, both justified and allowed for a rate of travel which exceeded that permissible in more routine circumstances.
“Following the application of the facts established by the evidence gathered during the course of SIRT’s investigation to the applicable legal standard, there are no grounds to believe that the Subject Officer committed any Criminal Code offence during the course of this incident, and no charges will be laid,” SIRT said in its report.
