News Online: Family raising questions after fatal shooting in west Edmonton

Published online at GlobalTVEdmonton.com on March 31, 2011.


Linda Hoang, Global News: Thursday, March 31, 2011

Family raising questions after fatal shooting in west Edmonton

While the the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team looks for answers surrounding a deadly shooting in west Edmonton, the family of the man who was fatally shot by police Wednesday night are raising questions about his death.

Police received a call about a “distraught male” shortly after 11 p.m. on Wednesday.

“An officer-involved shooting” took place behind an apartment building at 100 Avenue and 155 Street shortly after midnight, when the man, who has been identified by family as 38-year-old Kinling Robin Fire, got out of the car.

“He addressed the members. One of the members discharged his service weapon, striking the man twice,” said Acting Insp. Chris Epler.

Fire was taken to hospital by ambulance and later died from his injuries.

On Thursday, forensics crews were on scene while police tape surrounded the alley where the shooting took place.

According to Fire’s niece Faye Bitternose, who spoke to reporters Thursday morning, Fire had been shot twice, and she doesn’t understand why.

“They shot him twice, in the chest and in the stomach. I don’t know how they can do that to people,” Bitternose said, wiping back tears.

“He was a good man, he didn’t deserve to die he had so much ahead of him.”

Bitternose said her uncle was in the midst of a custody battle with his ex-girlfriend and had become suicidal, taking a bottle of sleeping pills and driving off in his car.

Fire’s niece said family who was in the parking lot after the shooting happened, described seeing Fire handcuffed and bleeding on the ground, crying out to his mother.

Bitternose doesn’t think her uncle had a weapon at the time of the incident but there is not yet confirmation as to whether Fire had a weapon or not, and whether he was threatening police when he was shot.

Police will be speaking about the incident at 1 p.m.

This is the second fatal police shooting of 2011. The first shooting took place in February, when 17-year-old Cyrus Green was shot in a restaurant parking lot near 118th Avenue and Wayne Gretzky Drive.

With files from Fletcher Kent

Click here to read the article on the Global Edmonton website.

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