Sask. police watchdog offers more details surrounding woman's death in Swift Current

The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) has released more details surrounding a woman’s death that occurred following an interaction with Swift Current RCMP over the weekend.

On May 5, at around 11:06 a.m. RCMP were dispatched after a member of the public requested a wellness check for their family member in the community.

Around 11 minutes later officers located the subject, a 55-year-old woman, at a local hotel.

However, she refused assistance from both police and EMS.

“Ultimately, the woman was taken into custody without incident under The Mental Health Services Act, and placed directly into the waiting ambulance,” the SIRT news release read.

While travelling to Cyprus Regional Hospital, the woman went into medical distress and became unresponsive.

The woman was admitted to hospital but at 12:26 p.m. she was pronounced dead.

At 1:20 p.m., SIRT was notified of the incident and directed a team including the organization’s director and four investigators to Swift Current.

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The investigation will examine the conduct of police during the incident, including the woman’s detention and the cause of her death.

RCMP will maintain responsibility for any investigation into the original incident, according to SIRT.

“No further information will be released at this time,” the release read. “A final report will be issued to the public within 90 days of the investigation ending.”

SIRT’s mandate is to investigate alleged cases of serious injury, death, sexual assault or interpersonal violence arising from the actions or omissions of on and off-duty police officers or while an individual is in police custody.