Regina Police will be investigating and the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety will be appointing an independent observer following an in-custody death involving the Saskatoon Police Service.

Saskatoon Police say just before 1 o’clock this morning (sat), officers responded to the 500 block of 5th Avenue North after receiving multiple calls of a man causing a disturbance and screaming that someone was going to kill him.

Police say the 32-year-old man, whose face was covered in blood, had a large butcher knife and a bottle of alcohol. When officers arrived, he fled on foot but was located a short distance away.

While police were trying to determine what happened, the man became aggressive and started spitting blood on officers. It’s said there was a brief struggle while officers were working on taking him into custody.

The man then became unresponsive when paramedics arrived and he died on his way to hospital.