Investigation into the Calgary police shooting of Latjor Tuel is ongoing, says ASIRT

Alberta's policing watchdog is calling on witnesses to come forward while it continues its investigation into the police shooting of Latjor Tuel, who was killed in southeast Calgary on Saturday. 

Tuel's family and the wider South Sudanese community have expressed shock and frustration with the way the incident was handled, saying that Tuel, a former child soldier, was suffering from PTSD at the time he was killed. 

Calgary police have defended their actions. 

"This situation involved a person, armed with weapons, who had committed an assault," said Chief Mark Neufeld on Tuesday. "This was a police call and police were the appropriate resource."

Some have suggested that mental health resources should have been dispatched to assist Tuel, who had long experienced mental health issues.

"The call the police responded to was not, when reported, about mental health," Neufled said. "It was a complaint of an assault involving a man in possession of a knife and a stick."

Akeir Koul, a Sudanese counsellor in Calgary and CEO of Best Help Family Foundation, told CBC's The Homestretch that she was devastated when she heard the news. Koul said she was concerned that the incident would retraumatize members of the South Sudanese community in Calgary, many of whom encountered violence before immigrating to Canada. 

Koul said that while accessing mental health services is stigmatized in the South Sudanese community, Tuel had been receiving medical attention.

"I'm very concerned as to why [his] records weren't pulled up [during the incident]," Koul said. 

Several calls were made to police on Saturday afternoon stating that Tuel had allegedly assaulted someone in Forest Lawn with a wooden stick and that he was carrying a knife. Police arrived on scene at 17th Avenue S.E. near 44th Street just after 3:30 p.m. 

In a video of the incident circulated on social media, Tuel can be seen sitting on a sidewalk while police seemingly engage in a dialogue with him from a distance. 

When Tuel stood up, police fired rubber bullets in an attempt to disarm him, they say. Another officer used a taser on Tuel as he approached them. Police say two officers fired their service weapons after Tuel stabbed a police dog in the neck with the knife. 

Tuel was pronounced dead shortly after.  

"It's an incredibly sorrowful time in our city," said Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek. "We have to remain committed to helping the community and family members get through this time.