RCMP RELEASE – Friday, June 18th at 7:17pm
High Prairie, Alta.—On June 18, 2021, at approximately 12 p.m. Alberta RCMP officers established containment of the suspect involved in the June 17, 2021, incident in the High Prairie area.
As a result, Lionel Ernest Grey (29) of the Gift Lake Metis Settlement, was arrested and taken into custody. Grey had serious injuries at the time of his apprehension. Alberta RCMP Tactical Medics and AHS EMS immediately provided medical assistance, though he succumbed to his injuries a short time later.
The Alberta RCMP Emergency Response Team, Police Dog Service Units, and RCMP Air Services from British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan were deployed along with area RCMP Detachment officers and RCMP Special Tactical Operations team for this incident.
The Alberta RCMP would like to thank Edmonton Police Service Air Services and Calgary Police Service Air Services who assisted in this investigation by having their helicopters on standby.
The RCMP believes in processes that seek the facts and it’s important that processes taken to assess the actions of all those involved, including the police, are fair, transparent, and defendable. This is why, as soon as we became aware of this incident, we immediately notified the Director of Law Enforcement and initiated our internal review process. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has been directed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the actions of the police during this investigation.
Independent of ASIRT’s investigation, the RCMP’s internal review process has been implemented to gather a full account of what took place during this incident. RCMP training, policy, police response, and the duty status of the members involved will be subject to review. The RCMP is, of course, fully cooperating with ASIRT and will not be commenting further on this incident. All media inquiries about this incident should now be directed to ASIRT at 780-641-9099.
Finally, Alberta RCMP are saddened to share that our Police Service Dog Jago was lost yesterday during the incident. Jago was born in July 2016, and served a total of 4 years with the RCMP. He served approximately 3 years with the Integrated Police Dog Service in the Lower Mainland, B.C., and for the past 11 months, he worked at the High Prairie and High Level Detachments.
Jago’s most recent handler, Cpl. Scott MacLeod, joined the High Prairie RCMP Detachment in 2020, and has approximately 10 years of service as an RCMP Police Dog Service handler.
