RCMP officers cleared in 2024 death of Cree teen Hoss Lightning Saddleback

Alberta’s police watchdog says two RCMP officers who shot and killed Hoss Lightning Saddleback won’t be charged. The 15-year-old boy died Aug. 30, 2024, in Wetaskiwin, Alta., south of Edmonton, after telling a 911 dispatcher he was being followed by people trying to kill him. According to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) report, RCMP dispatched an officer to locate him. The officer who first responded found Lightning, who declared that he had a machete and a knife. The report said Lightning’s “demeanour changed from being agreeable” in response to having the officer search his bags, to denying a search. According to the report, Lightning was going to be taken to a group home until his family could be located. The ASIRT report said Lightning then “placed his hand inside a backpack and pushed it to the bottom of the backpack and then raised the backpack up so that it was being held straight out” towards the officer, like he was pointing a gun. According to ASIRT, the officer yelled “Don’t do that!” several times. Lightning then began running, according to ASIRT. The officer told other RCMP officers coming for backup that he believed Lightning was armed. “He’s motioning very much that he’s got a firearm,” the officer can be heard saying in a recording of the shooting. Lightning ran into a field, according to the ASIRT report, and then walked towards the officers, “holding the backpack in a fashion as if he had a firearm pointed out the bottom of the bag, which was being held straight out” towards the officers. ASIRT investigators said “both subject officers shot multiple times” and Lightning fell to the ground. He was transported to the hospital, where he died. The investigators found Lightning did not have a firearm in the backpack. “While these events are tragic, that does not make them criminal,” the ASIRT report concluded. “Based on the evidence collected in a comprehensive investigation… There are therefore no reasonable grounds to believe that either subject officer committed a criminal offence.” Read More:  Hoss Lightning Saddleback a ‘tenderhearted kid’ says his kookum  Leaders and politicians from Samson Cree Nation, where the boy lived, have subsequently called for police reform and better de-escalation training. Lightning was one of nine Indigenous people to die while interacting with police over a two-month span in 2024. That number also included Jon Wells, who died at the hands of Calgary police and paramedics less than a month later. More to come. Continue Reading