Nearly two years after a fatal shooting involving a 19-year-old man and an officer inside Estevan’s police headquarters – the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) has finished its investigation.

On Nov. 1, 2023, an Estevan Police Service (EPS) officer was seriously wounded after he was stripped of his service weapon and shot by a 19-year-old suspect who was being processed at the station.

The initial call

Officers and paramedics were dispatched to an apartment on the 1200 block of Sixth Street around 6:40 a.m. Police found a woman suffering from multiple stab wounds. The woman died from her injuries shortly after.

The only other person in the apartment, a 19-year-old man, was found covered in blood. He was taken into custody.

Although not named in the report, the suspect was identified as the victim’s son – while the victim was identified as 46-year-old Karie Ann Guillas.

The shooting

According to SIRT’s report published Thursday, the 19-year-old, who is referred to as the “affected person” in the report, was changing his clothes inside an observation room when an altercation occurred.

When the affected person removed a hoodie he was wearing, instead of placing it inside the evidence bag provided to him, he tossed it onto the table to his right.

When an officer, referred to as witness officer 1 (WO1) in the report, reached with his left hand to pick up the hoodie – he slightly exposed his service weapon that was holstered on his right hip.

The affected person then lunged forward and grabbed the pistol with both hands. The witness officer attempted to defend himself – but the holster detached from his belt.

The officer shouted something to the effect of “he has my gun” – alerting a second officer, referred to as the subject officer, posted just outside the room.

“The affected person succeeded in removing the pistol from the holster and WO1 stated words to the effect of ‘he has it,’” the report read.

The 19-year-old then fired one shot from the weapon, hitting the witness officer in the abdomen. The pair partially emerged from the observation room before being pulled back inside as the struggle for the weapon continued.

The subject officer pushed the affected person against the rear wall of the room. While being wrestled against the wall, the affected person, holding the stolen pistol upwards at a 45-degree angle, fired another shot – which struck the back wall of the room.

As the affected person began to lower the weapon down towards the two officers – the subject officer drew his weapon and fired two shots “from the hip in close succession” which struck the affected person in the torso. The suspect then fell to the ground.

As the subject officer began to handcuff the affected person, he reportedly stated “just finish me” or words to that effect, according to the report.

The subject officer radioed “shots fired, officer down” and called for an ambulance. Four other service members rushed to the detention centre. Paramedics followed shortly after.

Both the affected person and the witness officer were rushed to hospital in Estevan before being transferred to Regina.

The officer, who was later identified by EPS as Sgt. Braden Lonsberry, was released from hospital after several days – while the affected person would pass away during surgery at 3:50 p.m. at Regina General Hospital.

The investigation

An autopsy later found the affected person had methamphetamine and cocaine in his system at the time of his death. The drugs were detected at levels consistent with causing intoxication.

A forensic pathologist found the cause of the affected person’s death to be multiple gunshot wounds to the torso.

In its report, SIRT noted that no video footage directly captured the actual incident due to the shooting’s location in the station.

“That said, footage from other cameras assisted the investigation, capturing events such as the affected person’s attempt to exit the room in question, and flashes consistent with gunshots, which assisted in developing a timeline of the incident,” the report read.

Eleven police officers were interviewed by investigators as direct witnesses while two civilians were interviewed in the form of a detention guard and a detainee that was in the detention area at the time of the shooting.

In its analysis, SIRT said the narrative of the incident based on the evidence gathered depicted a situation where the officer who fired the fatal two shots at the affected person had an “undeniably reasonable fear of death or grievous bodily harm” for himself and the witness officer that had already been shot.

“In this case, that fear was not merely a reasonably apprehended theoretical or potential risk, but an ongoing and pressing reality based on the injury sustained by [the witness officer], the subsequent discharge of an additional shot by the affected person, and the continuing attempt by the affected person to bring [the witness officer’s] pistol to bear,” the report read.

In his decision, SIRT’s civilian executive director Greg Gudelot found no grounds to believe an offence was committed by the subject officer involved.

“As a result, no charges will be laid,” Gudelot wrote.

With the decision, SIRT’s involvement in the case is concluded.

EPS Chief James Blunden told CTV News on Thursday the incident has left a lasting impact on the EPS and the community of Estevan.

“Everyone was affected by this incident. The members, staff and the employees of the EPS were affected greatly by this,” he said.

Bluden explained that due to the incident, the department created a new policy for gun holsters. Those who are not carrying a level three holster are not allowed to be in similar situations with detainees at EPS headquarters.

However, Blunden clarified that the cause of the incident was not a holster, but rather the actions of someone who had just committed a homicide.