Jon Wells,42, from southern Alberta’s Blood Tribe has been identified as the man who died in Calgary Police Service custody last week.
Wells is being remembered as a kind man who was an accomplished steer wrestler.
“A very gentle man who was dedicated to the community and his family, and to his, I’ll say, hobby of rodeo — he was a role model in that,” said Eugene Creighton with the Indian National Rodeo Finals (INRF).
Wells was the 2012 INFR Steer Wrestling Tour Champion, making him the best in North America in the INFR circuit. Creighton says to reach that level of success required Wells to commit significant time to his practice while balancing a job and his family life.
“In rodeo he was very competitive,” said Creighton.
“He wasn’t there just for the sake of it, he was in it to win.”
Wells died on Sept. 17 when Calgary police members were called to the Carriage House Inn.
In a statement, CPS says officers responded to reports of a man causing a disturbance and refusing to leave. CPS says Wells was acting erratically, adding officers attempted to de-escalate the situation but he was not cooperative. As a result, officers deployed a taser and OC (pepper) spray.
According to police, shortly after being taken into custody, Wells went into medical distress and despite efforts from EMS, died at the scene.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating.
“When you see (that happen) in your territory, it’s just a traumatization of many other deaths that have happened exactly the same type of way,” said Michelle Robinson, a local Indigenous advocate and community member.
Wells is the eighth Indigenous person across Canada to die in a police altercation since Aug. 29, prompting an emergency parliamentary debate last week, with advocates calling for accountability and implementation of the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
“Until we see the 94 calls to action and the 231 calls to justice implemented, we know it’s just another report and we need to see action,” said Robinson.
“That means change so that’s what we’re looking for always.”