Siksika Nation says male nation member has died after Christmas Day police shooting

Siksika Nation says one of its members has died after an altercation took place early Christmas morning in Strathmore, Alta.

At around 3:30 a.m. Sunday, RCMP said they responded to an unwanted persons call in the southern Alberta town, about 50 kilometres east of Calgary, after reports that a male was causing a disturbance at a gas station.

"The male was located by RCMP and he confronted police with a weapon," police said in a release.

"Officers discharged their sidearms. The male was struck, treated by EMS and transported to hospital with injuries as a result of this incident."

No details about the man's conditionwere provided by RCMP.

RCMP said the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), the province's police watchdog,is investigating the shooting. A request for comment to ASIRT was not immediately returned on Tuesday.

On Monday, the office of chief and council government of Siksika Nation released a statement on Facebookwhich stated that the deceased individual was a male member of the nation.

"Siksika chief and council send our love, thoughts and prayers to the deceased member's family and will follow up in the investigation," the statement reads.