Erratic male pepper sprayed in MHC classroom
By JEREMY APPEL on March 21, 2019.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel Police used pepper spray Wednesday morning in a classroom to subdue an erratic male causing a disturbance at Medicine Hat College. “Today started with a bit of unusual activity at Medicine Hat College,” Mark Keller, the school’s director of advancement, told the News. Around 8 a.m., staff and students expressed concern about the behaviour on campus of a man who was not a student at the college. Medicine Hat Police Service Staff-Sgt. Kelsey Fraser described that behaviour as “acting in a menacing way (and) saying incoherent things.” According to Keller, the students and faculty contacted security who attempted to pursue the suspect before getting the MHPS involved. “There was a wandering venture through a few areas on campus and outside of campus buildings, as campus security attempted to ask the individual who they were and manage their behaviour,” he said. “That combination of our security folks and the Medicine Hat police resulted in the individual entering an occupied classroom and it was necessary for the police to use their pepper spray to manage the individual.” Nobody was injured and the incident lasted about 15 minutes, said Keller. “I think it’s fair to say that if pepper spray is used in a relatively enclosed space like a classroom, there will have been some people that would have been affected by the overspray,” he said, adding that MHC plans to follow up with the students and staff in the classroom to ensure they’re OK. The individual has been arrested on charges of causing a public disturbance and resisting arrest, as well as some breaches of release conditions from previous offences. According to a news release from MHPS, “No weapons were used or threatened by the male.” Fraser says the deployment of pepper spray was wholly justified in this situation. “The subject turned towards the officer to be confrontational and was ignoring commands to give into the arrest, so the officer ended up having to disperse OC spray on the subject to gain compliance and prevent the offence from continuing,” said Fraser. “Obviously, when you’re placed under arrest and you decide to flee from police, that ups the ante.” The deployment of pepper spray is permitted in a situation where the officer judges they could be in danger, he added. “We don’t have to get punched or injured in order to use those tools,” said Fraser. “We have to prevent the offence.” He said he’s met with the suspect and believes he was drug impaired at the time of the incident. Police can’t provide the suspect’s name until charges against him are sworn. Fraser provided special praise for the lone officer who initially pursued the suspect. “We’re not cowboys,” he said. “We don’t do things on our own, but he recognized the possible jeopardy of this situation with someone acting erratically in a school setting and he made the decision to get in there promptly.” 22-21
