An investigation into the death of an Edmonton woman, caught in the crossfire of an RCMP shooting northeast of Edmonton, describes her death as an unintended, tragic accident.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team issued its findings Wednesday into an officer-involved shooting on Aug. 8, 2022, that left Dawson Steinhauer with serious injuries and his girlfriend, 24-year-old Faith Prohl, dead.
The incident began with a domestic violence complaint and an hours-long police chase that ended when RCMP officers opened fire in a field on the outskirts of Smoky Lake, Alta., 116 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.
Alberta’s police watchdog found that the officers were not aware that Prohl was hiding in the field when they opened fire, fatally wounding her with a bullet that travelled through her right shoulder and into her chest. She died at the scene.
Michael Ewenson, ASIRT’s executive director, cleared the officers involved of any wrongdoing and ruled that they are not culpable for Prohl’s death.
“With the benefit of hindsight, time for detached reflection and knowledge of the ultimate outcome, it is easy to speculate about how things could have been done differently,” Ewenson wrote in his report.
“That is not the standard, however, against which an officer’s conduct is measured.”
CBC News has heard from friends and family who remember Prohl as a kind, caring mother who was in need of police assistance on the day she died.
The report does not name Prohl or Steinhauer, but identifies them only as the man and woman shot by officers.
Ewenson said the use of force was justified given the dangerous circumstances that officers faced at the scene and the prolonged police chase that unfolded that day.
“[The woman] being shot was completely unintended, and her death an extremely tragic accident,” Ewenson wrote.
“Even if they had known, given the situation immediately facing them, their actions in shooting at [the man] would not have changed.
“They all used lawful force against [the man]. However, in using the force they did it had the collateral effect of killing [the woman].
The report details how RCMP were first called to investigate a report of domestic violence, where Prohl had reportedly been assaulted and possibly held against her will by her boyfriend.
An officer called to investigate the alleged abduction searched the Saddle Lake area and spotted Steinhauer behind the wheel of a Lincoln SUV. The officer flashed his emergency lights and Steinhauer fled.
The officer followed and called for back-up, following the suspect vehicle as it reached speeds of up to 120 km/h. Officers eventually used a spike belt in an attempt to stop the vehicle, but the chase continued.
According to the investigation, Prohl fired a shot out the car window, from the passenger seat, toward the officers.
Steinhauer then drove to a gas station in Smoky Lake. Prohl exited the vehicle as an armed Steinhauer got out and stole a truck from a driver who was gassing up at the pumps.
A single shot was fired by one of the officers as the chase began again.
After briefly losing sight of the truck as it left Smoky Lake, officers found it abandoned in the trees, near a church on a rural range road on the edge of a pea field. They started a ground search.
Officers descended on the area, wading through waist-high pea fields, before spotting Steinhauer in the distance, pointing a rifle in the direction of police.
Prohl’s location was unknown as three officers opened fire on the field, the ASIRT investigation found.
The officers moved in closer as Steinhauer fell to the ground and found Prohl laying in the field.
Prohl died at the scene.
Spent casings recovered from the scene confirmed that officers fired at least 12 rounds. An autopsy confirmed that Prohl died of a bullet wound.
Steinhauer was airlifted from the scene to hospital in Edmonton.
The extent of Steinhauer’s injuries and his account of the events were not included in the ASIRT report as he refused to speak to investigators, ASIRT said.
In his report, Ewenson said Prohl displayed a “complete disregard” for the lives of people on the road when she fired from the vehicle.
Officers opened fire repeatedly during the chase to mitigate the public risk both posed during their flight from police, Ewenson said.
When they encountered Steinhauer in the field, officers had no other alternative but to open fire, Ewenson said.
Steinhauer, who was 21 at the time, was charged with criminal flight, armed robbery, pointing a firearm and breaching a weapons prohibition and sentenced to just under five years in prison.
University of Alberta criminology professor Temitope Oriola, who specializes in policing and use of force, said he agrees with the watchdog’s findings.
He said the investigation shows that officers were faced with a very fluid, dynamic and dangerous chain of events that justified their decision to open fire.
“Clearly those circumstances were very incredibly difficult for officers and it does seem that the outcome, the death of this woman in that incident, is an incredibly unfortunate outcome.
“It’s hard to see any wrongdoing on the part of the officers when you see the totality of the incident from start to finish. But that doesn’t erase the fact that have an individual who has died.”
Oriola said, however, there are still lessons to be learned from the tragedy and possible policy changes that could avoid similar deaths.
He said he has questions about how much information officers had about the alleged kidnapping before they were deployed and how things could have been handled differently.
He said the officers, while justified in opening fire, could have chosen a less lethal response, such as an attempt at negotiation, to ensure that the woman they were called to help did not get caught in the crossfire.
“When kidnappings are involved, perhaps there could be a little bit of reticence in responding with deployment of firearms … but it’s hard to strongly make that case when the officers are being faced with a firearm.”
