Twenty-five-year-old Jaskamal (Jas) Singh Lail was shot and killed by Calgary police. He is the fourth victim of deadly gunfire from Calgary police officers this year. The incident marked the seventh time officers discharged their service weapons in 2018.
CALGARY – Family and friends are lamenting the police killing of a young Indo-Canadian man who was suffering a mental health crisis, saying his death could have been prevented.
Some of the hundreds who attended a service for 25-year-old Jaskamal (Jas) Singh Lail at northeast funeral home spoke out, calling for justice and saying the man would still be alive if police took different actions on Aug. 31,reported Postmedia.
They said few people knew of the years Lail battled mental health issues, adding they saw him face a “torturous cycle through a complicated health care system.”
Family members said they hoped his death will bring awareness to mental health battles people face on a daily basis and further situations like the one leading up to Lail’s death will be prevented.
Lail was shot and killed by Calgary police hours after he was involved in an altercation at a northeast gym more than a week ago.
He is the fourth victim of deadly gunfire from Calgary police officers this year. The incident marked the seventh time officers discharged their service weapons in 2018.
The incident began the night of Aug. 30, when police were called to a northeast gym after reports of an altercation. Lail was seen circling the gym for hours before driving dangerously back to his Redstone home.
Believing the man was suffering from a mental health crisis, officials said, officers left the man alone, with plans to return the next day, towing his vehicle around 2:20 a.m. Friday morning.
Less than an hour and a half later, police returned to his residence for a noise complaint before they encountered him near the intersection of Redstone Drive and Redstone Street N.E.
Police said an altercation occurred that led officers to first use a less-lethal ARWEN launcher — a weapon that shoots a plastic round — in an attempt to deter the man before opening fire with a service pistol.
It was the first time the incapacitating weapon has been used by a frontline officer in Calgary, a key recommendation from a sweeping use of force report released earlier this year.
But it still didn’t help save Lail.
