SASKATOON -- A Saskatoon woman who says she tried to save a 42-year-old man who was fatally shot believes if responding officers allowed her to continue providing first aid, he may still be alive.
"It's a life that didn't need to be lost," said Tya Matchett, a 27-year-old who says she was inside a home in the 600 Block of 33rd Street West the day 42-year-old Dale Shatilla was shot.
According to Saskatoon Police Service (SPS), dispatchers received a call about an injured man at around 2:20 p.m. on Feb. 24. When officers arrived, they found a 42-year-old man suffering from a life-threatening gunshot wound.
In an interview with CTV News, Matchett said she was inside the home visiting with friends that afternoon. She said she heard a loud sound but doesn't know how Shatilla was shot.
"And when we open the door, Dale had a pale face and a shocked look on his face," she said. "We were all caught off guard, I said 'I have first aid.' and the first thing I did, was to tell someone to grab me something big enough to wrap around him to slow down the bleeding at least until paramedics got there."
Matchett said police arrived shortly after they called 9-1-1. She claims an officer told her to back away from Shatilla and to put her hands up where they could see them.
"I told him if I let go he could bleed to death," she said. Matchett said she stepped away from Shatilla and paramedics arrived about five to 10 minutes later.
He was taken to Royal University Hospital where he later died.
In an email to CTV News, SPS spokesperson Alyson Edwards said while she is unable to comment on an ongoing investigation, police must use a great deal of caution when arriving on-scene where guns are known to be.
"In situations like this the officers do not know who is armed and who is not," she said.
Matchett said she was taken into custody along with all others in the house, but everyone was released hours later.
No charges have been laid in connection to the incident. Police continue to investigate Shatilla's death.
