No charges for Regina officer who fatally shot homicide suspect: watchdog

A Regina police officer will not face charges related to the fatal police shooting of a 29-year-old suspect last year, according to a Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) investigation.

In a report dated Aug. 14, Greg Gudelot, SIRT’s civilian executive director, said the officer acted within the legally protected limits imposed on police in Saskatchewan, and as such, charges would not be laid. The police watchdog described its investigation into the matter as “comprehensive and thorough” in its report, noting it included civilian evidence, interviews, a statement from the officer who pulled the trigger, and items seized from the scene on the 1300 block of Garnet Street.

The suspect who was shot, a 29-year-old man, was accused of a homicide and arrested two days prior to the police shooting, on July 16, 2025, the report said. He was interviewed and released from police custody the following day. That night, officers found additional evidence prompting them to decide to re-arrest him and charge him with murder.

While investigating the next morning, they happened to spot the suspect riding a bicycle around 10:08 a.m. July 18, 2025, SIRT said.

Officers then lost sight of him and called for reinforcements while continuing to search. Minutes later, at 10:12 a.m., he was found by two plainclothes officers in an unmarked car used by the RPS major crimes unit, according to the team. Its report noted that the officers were recognizable as police.

Police found the suspect in an alley between Garnet Street and Athol Street, north of 8th Avenue. The report said the man stepped off his bike and was holding a knife in his left hand when officers located him.

According to the officer’s account, the suspect did not comply. He placed his backpack on the ground and reached into a pocket, pulling out what the officer believed was a Glock 19 handgun.

“One plainclothes member of RPS discharged a single round from a service pistol, striking the male,” SIRT’s original news release from July 2025 said.

The man was declared dead two minutes after EMS arrived, it continued.

After he was shot, police confirmed the black object was a cellphone, the report found.

An autopsy of the 29-year-old revealed his cause of death to be a single gunshot wound to the torso. The bullet entered his left shoulder and remained in his body. A toxicology report found multiple drugs, including methamphetamine and cocaine, in his system.

When SIRT investigators arrived at the Regina scene, they seized the knife and a replica Glock 19 handgun from his backpack, the report said.

“The knife and replica firearm recovered from the incident scene were both submitted for DNA testing, with laboratory results confirming the presence of the affected person’s DNA on both exhibits,” it continued.

When the team tried to shoot the gun, they confirmed it was a non-functional replica, SIRT said.