Jon Wells died Sept. 17 while in the custody of Calgary police officer. Photo: APTN File
A man from the Blood Tribe in southern Alberta died during an altercation with Calgary police early Tuesday morning.
APTN News has confirmed Jon Wells, 42, died after being taken into custody.
According to a statement from the City of Calgary, officers were called to the Carriage House Hotel and Conference Centre around 12:55 a.m. following reports of a man causing a disturbance and refusing to leave.
Upon arrival, officers located a man in the front lobby acting erratically, according to the statement.
“Officers attempted to de-escalate the situation; however, the man was not cooperative. A struggle ensued, resulting in one officer deploying a Taser. The man continued to be combative with officers, resulting in one officer deploying OC spray. The man was taken into custody and, shortly after, went into medical distress,” said the release.
The release said despite attempts by emergency medical services personnel, Wells was declared dead at the scene.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is now investigating the death.
Wells is the 7th First Nations person to die during an interaction with police officers since Aug. 29.
Jack Piché, 31, of Clearwater Dené Nation, some 500 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, was killed just before 2 a.m. on Aug. 29. He was struck by an RCMP vehicle in what Saskatchewan’s Serious Incident Response Team called foggy conditions near the junction of two remote highways about 50 kilometres southeast of the First Nation.
In the early morning hours of Aug. 30, Hoss Lightning-Saddleback, 15, of Samson Cree Nation in Alberta, was shot dead in Wetaskiwin, 70 kilometres south of Edmonton, by RCMP responding to a 911 call. The preliminary report by Alberta’s Serious Incident Response Team said Lightning called 911 at 12:28 a.m. and said he was being “followed by people who wanted to harm him.” Police said he was located by an officer and disarmed. According to police, he was initially cooperative before fleeing into a field. Another officer who arrived shot Lightning.
On Sept 2, Tammy Bateman, 32, from Roseau River First Nation in Manitoba, died in Winnipeg after being hit by a police cruiser as police were returning a man to a homeless camp on River Avenue.
On Sept. 6, Jason West, 57, was killed by Windsor police. The Special Investigations Unit said at approximately 10 a.m., officers responded to a report of a person with a weapon and the suspect in possession of the weapon was shot by police.
On Sept. 8, Steven Dedam, 33, was shot dead at his home in Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick. According to the province’s Special Incident Response Team, or SIRT, RCMP were conducting a “wellness check.” In an unusual move, the RCMP released a statement saying the police were not conducting a wellness check.
On the same day, RCMP in Saskatchewan responded to a call in Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, 160 kilometres north of Saskatoon, that a woman had been assaulted with a machete. A 32-second video sent to APTN News shows the fatal encounter with Daniel Knife.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Sept. 19 with the correct information on the day Jon Wells died.
