Machete-wielding man shot by police in Calgary mall parking lot charged with assault - Action News
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Machete-wielding man shot by police in Calgary mall parking lot charged with assault

Charges have been laid against a man who was shot by police Sunday morning in southeast Calgaryafter approaching officers while holding weapons, according to the province's police watchdog.

Body-worn camera video shows the man refusing to drop a large machete and knife, ASIRT says

Two police officers and two police vehicles are outside a shopping mall.
ASIRT is investigating after a police officer shot a man at a mall parking lot in southeast Calgary early Sunday morning. (Helen Pike/CBC)

Charges have been laid against a man who was shot by police Sunday morning in southeast Calgaryafter approaching officers while holding weapons, according to the province's police watchdog.

Officers were called to the mall parking lot in the 200 block of Shawville Boulevard S.E. where they found a man in his 30s.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team seized video from officers' body-worn cameras. The agency said it showed the man approaching officers while wielding a large machete in one hand and knife in the other.

The "situation escalated" and an officer shot the man, police said.

After the shooting, the man still refused to drop the weapons, and additionalforce was necessary to arrest him and get himmedical treatment, police said.

He was also hit with Arwen less-lethal plastic rounds, Pepperballs projectiles that disperse pepper powder and a Taser.

Once in custody, the man was taken to hospital to be treated for his injuries.He sustained a broken femur and a penetrating wound. ASIRT said it is investigatingwhich police action caused or contributed to the man's injuries.

Daniel Richard Balcerzak, 35, of Claresholm, Alta., is charged with:

  • Two counts of assaulting a police officer.
  • Two counts of assault with a weapon.
  • One count of weapon dangerous to public peace.
  • One count of uttering threats to cause death.

He remains in custody in hospital in stable, non life-threatening conditionand is set to appear in court on Sept.10.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), theprovince's law enforcement watchdog, isinvestigating the shooting.

The officer who fired the shot is an 11-year member and is now on 30-day administrative leave.