EDMONTON – An investigation has concluded that a suspect who exchanged gunfire with RCMP officers in the small Alberta town of St. Paul earlier this month killed himself.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team says police did nothing wrong in the death of John Quadros, 55, and no criminal charges will be laid.
“I can tell you that the investigation did not disclose any criminal conduct on the part of those police officers involved,” Clifton Purvis, head of the civilian investigative agency, said Friday.
“It was further determined that the male driver of that vehicle, Mr. John Quadros, took his own life during the incident.”
Three Mounties were injured in downtown St. Paul on May 9 during a pursuit of a man in a truck who was believed to have fired shots at the RCMP detachment.
One police vehicle was rammed by the truck, seriously injuring an officer, and an exchange of gunfire ensued. A second officer’s hand was grazed by a bullet and a third Mountie was hit by a shard of flying glass.
The RCMP have since said that they believe Quadros, who owned a health food store in St. Paul, also shot and killed a Catholic priest in the church rectory earlier that night.
Purvis said Quadros was armed with a number of weapons.
“The investigation recovered several firearms from inside the cab of the black truck. Recovered was a high-powered rifle, two shotguns, a small-calibre pistol and numerous rounds of ammunition to fit all of those weapons.”
Numerous shots were fired at police from the weapons and one officer shot back eight times, Purvis said. None of the shots hit Quadros, he said.
Police ordered the suspect to get out of the truck, but he didn’t move, Purvis said. Officers approached and found Quadros dead.
The three injured Mounties are expected to recover from their injuries.
The RCMP is still conducting its criminal investigation. Deputy Commissioner Marianne Ryan has already said that the shooting came from “out of the blue” and the officers are lucky to be alive.
The officer who was in the vehicle that was rammed was most seriously injured. The impact crushed her lower limbs.
Ryan said she visited the officer in hospital after she had surgery to place pins in both feet. “She actually told me that when she was extricated from the vehicle, she felt like her toes were touching her shins,” Ryan said a few days later.
After the drama of the shooting, the community turned to grieving the death of Rev. Gilbert Dasna, who had come from Africa to serve in St. Paul.
A funeral was held and his body sent to Nigeria for burial.
