Calgary police officer charged with 2 counts of 2nd-degree murder

A Calgary police officer has been charged with murder following a 2023 police shooting that left two men dead.

Const. Craig Stothard faces two charges of second-degree murder stemming from a shooting that took place on May 29, 2023.

Court documents identify Wesley Davidson and Levon Boyce Fox as the two victims killed in the shooting. 

On Tuesday, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) — a provincial agency that investigates incidents where death or serious injury may have been caused by police — announced the charges following its two-year investigation.

According to Stothard’s lawyer Don MacLeod, the officer “maintains his innocence and he intends to mount a full and vigorous defence.”

Stothard was released on $1,000 bail on Tuesday under a number of conditions including a weapons prohibition and an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. 

He must also surrender his passport, remain in the province and provide his fingerprints.

Stothard’s next court appearance is on Thursday. 

Call reported ‘suspicious and impaired’ men

The incident took place along Memorial Drive, a major road through inner-city Calgary. 

On May 29, 2023, just after 10 a.m., a security guard reported three “suspicious and impaired individuals” on a private property, according to Calgary police at the time. 

The three men fled in a stolen five-ton cube van that was then reportedly being driven in an erratic and dangerous manner along westbound Memorial Drive.

Officers followed the slow-moving vehicle as it continued swerving along the road. Police vehicles were placed in strategic locations to make sure the van didn’t get into the heavily populated downtown.

A number of attempts were made to contain the van, but because of its size, it broke through the containment.

Stothard ‘on leave’

Police say 45 minutes after the incident began, the situation escalated to the point where one officer discharged their firearm, killing two of the suspects inside the vehicle.

A third person was taken into custody.

The CPS helicopter, HAWCS, was involved in the incident and provided its footage to ASIRT investigators who also reviewed officers’ body-worn camera video. 

“We had a voluminous amount of body-worn camera footage to go through,” said ASIRT Director Mike Ewenson. “As well … the CPS helicopter was over top of this incident.”

HAWCS, body-worn video 

Ewenson called the video “remarkably important” to the investigation.

“Even though witness officers certainly co-operated with our investigation … and do their best to give us a full and complete recollection of everything they heard and everything they saw, in going through these instances, it can be difficult for a proper recollection,” said Ewenson.

“Having body-worn camera footage gives us an objective view of what occurred in terms of what was seen and what was heard.”

According to the Calgary Police Service (CPS), Stothard, a 15-year member, “is currently on leave” although CPS would not elaborate on whether the officer was on leave with or without pay. 

Police statement

In a written statement provided to CBC News, CPS said it is “confident in the integrity of the ASIRT investigation.”

“The charges are extremely serious in nature, and we recognize that incidents like this challenge the trust that communities have in the Calgary Police Service, especially Indigenous communities,” reads part of the statement.

“We are committed to listening, learning, and taking every possible step to understand what can be learned from what happened.”

CPS also offered condolences to the victims’ grieving family members.  

According to ASIRT, the evidence gathered during its investigation provided reasonable grounds to believe that offences had been committed.

The investigative findings were forwarded to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service which determined the evidence met its standard for taking the case to trial.