‘Heart-wrenching’ screams after Regina police shooting: neighbour

Many questions remain after a fatal police shooting in Regina’s Spruce Meadows neighbourhood that happened on Thursday night.

Regina Police Service (RPS) said it happened around 11 p.m. in the 3000 block of East Haughton Road, when officers shot and fatally wounded someone during an investigation.

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While he didn’t see the shooting itself, Jeff Renwick said he witnessed a bit of its aftermath around 11:30 p.m. when he left his nearby home to walk his dog.

Renwick said he was met with loud sirens and bright lights when he stepped outside, seeing at least five police cars and an ambulance.

He said when he opened the door to let the dog out, he could hear a young woman screaming at the top of her lungs.

“She was screaming something to the effect that of ‘It’s all my fault, I invited him here. I’m not okay. Is he okay?’ And then she just started wailing, like screeching this. It was heart-wrenching,” Renwick said.

Renwick said he didn’t know he was witnessing the aftermath of a police shooting until the next morning.

“When I first saw the flashing lights, I just assumed it was in the ambulance there, because there are ambulances over there on occasion. But when I saw all the police cars, I didn’t know what the heck was going on,” Renwick added.

“I thought maybe they had arrested somebody for drunk driving or something, and there might have been an accident. I certainly didn’t assume, like a police-involved shooting in this neighbourhood.”

At the scene of the shooting, parts of a parking lot were taped off by police on Friday morning. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME).

The investigation now in the hands of the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), the provincial police watchdog.

“We understand that this incident is of significant public interest and ask for patience as the facts are gathered. Because this is an active SIRT investigation, no further information will be provided by the Regina Police Service. Additional information will be provided by SIRT as it becomes available,” read the RPS news release.

As of Friday, SIRT had not given any details on the victim but said more information will be released in the coming days.

– with files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick