A man who died after ramming a stolen truck into a police cruiser and crashing on Saskatoon’s Circle Drive was not killed by police gunfire, an autopsy has determined.
A statement from the coroner’s office, sent Monday through the Saskatoon Police Service, indicates gunshots did not lead to Austin Eaglechief’s death.
“The Office of the Chief Coroner conducted a forensic autopsy and has determined gunshot wounds (or firearm) neither caused nor contributed to the death,” the statement read.
The 22-year-old Eaglechief was pronounced dead at the scene after a stolen truck crashed into a civilian vehicle at Airport Drive and Circle Drive on June 19.
He was the truck’s driver, according to police. The autopsy determined he died as a result of the high-speed impact.
The crash occurred just seconds after police activated their emergency lights and sirens and just minutes after the stolen truck rammed a police cruiser in the city’s River Heights neighbourhood and fled.
Gunshots were fired by police at some point as the truck rammed the cruiser, and an officer in the police car was taken to hospital with injuries to her neck and head.
The driver of the civilian vehicle and a passenger in the stolen truck were taken to hospital as a precaution, according to police.
