The family of a man killed by a police officer want the Edmonton Police Service to be held accountable for the shooting and its aftermath.
Mathios Arkangelo, 28, was fatally shot on a residential street in the Fraser neighbourhood in northeast Edmonton on the night of June 29. Police say a man matching his description had left the scene of a single-vehicle rollover on the nearby Anthony Henday Drive.
The province’s police watchdog, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), is investigating the shooting.
Arkangelo’s brother and mother spoke to media Tuesday morning at a news conference in the neighbourhood arranged by Tom Engel, a lawyer who is working with the family.
Anna Odo said she and her son were close, sharing similar interests in singing and exercise.
She said Arkangelo had called her minutes before his death to say he loved her. She said she came to Canada from South Sudan for a better life but now lives in fear of police.
“If something happens to me, who should I call?” Odo said. “I have fear now, I can’t sleep at night. I see the police car, I run inside and lie down.”
Odo wants to know why her son was killed when she says it appears like he had surrendered.
Security footage obtained by CBC News shows Arkangelo’s hands were raised when he was shot. He held an object in one hand, which family believes was a utility knife that he carried all the time and used for work around the yard.
News releases from EPS and ASIRT did not mention a weapon being found at the scene.
Odo said there was a long delay before she knew what had happened to her son. An officer had apparently called the house around the time of the shooting to say Arkangelo had been in a vehicle collision, but provided few details.
Two officers arrived at her home about seven hours later to tell her he had died, she said.
Odo said she is also dismayed at what police did in the minutes after her son was shot.
Camera footage provided to CBC News shows that more than two minutes go by after the shooting before police officers approach with guns drawn.
Arkangelo is lying on his back. An officer rolls him onto his stomach and handcuffs him.
Other police officers arrive at the scene and start first aid.
Paramedics arrive nine minutes after Arkangelo was shot.
‘Not going to bring my brother back’
Dini Arkangelo said his younger brother’s main life goal was trying to better himself for his seven-year-old son.
“We grew up with a single mom, never had a dad there. So our goal was to be there for our kids. And unfortunately, he’s not going to be there.”
Dini Arkangelo said Tuesday that people in the neighbourhood have been forthcoming in providing security footage to the family as they seek answers.
He has edited together 25 minutes of footage and hopes it will spread far and wide to demonstrate that his brother was not a threat to anyone.
He wants the officer who shot his brother off the street.
“Just avoid that happening to anybody,” he said.
“Whatever we do, it’s not going to bring my brother back.”
Family members are grieving the death of Mathios Arkangelo, who was shot by an Edmonton police officer on June 29. ‘Why was he killed?’ asks Tom Engel, a lawyer who is representing the family. ‘That’s the basic question.’
Engel said Tuesday he thinks it will be years before ASIRT completes its investigation.
“It’s just an agonizing delay. And it’s not in the public interest to have that delay. It’s agonizing for the people in this community. It’s agonizing for Edmontonians.”
In a statement, EPS said it acknowledges the tragedy of the incident and the impact it has had on the victim’s family, broader community and attending first responders.
The statement said the police service cannot share more information with the public as the ASIRT investigation is ongoing.
“While we cannot comment on the substance of this incident at this time, we are confident that ASIRT will be conducting a thorough and independent investigation which the EPS will fully co-operate with,” the statement said.
“We trust that those who advocate for effective oversight for policing will also respect the system and process set up to do so.”