A Saskatoon mother is looking for answers after her son and two of his friends were detained by Saskatoon Police.  Tracy Bergen says her 15-year-old son was babysitting his little sister when she popped home, so he and two friends went to the Dollarama in Brighton for snacks.

She says it was the same night police were called to an armed robbery. Around 7:30 p.m. last Saturday an individual was robbed of money at an ATM in the 300 block of Ludlow Street by two masked men armed with handguns. Bergen says one of the boys had opened the door and they were just about to walk in when police cruisers converged on the store.

She describes what happened next. “Jumped out of their vehicles with their guns raised, pointed at them. Told them to put their hands up, get down on the ground, lay down, handcuffed them, searched them, told them they were under arrest for suspected armed robbery. My son said, I didn’t do anything, can you call my mom? Searched them, put them into separate cruisers, to question them.”

Bergen says she wants to know why they were questioned without a parent present and they had provided identification which showed they were minors. And she felt the police response was overkill suggesting there was already one victim of gun violence that night and the police created three more.

She says the police could have pulled up, asked the teens to put their hands where officers could see them, and let them know they have a couple questions to ask but she says their first reaction was to pull up and point their guns at the boys. In addition, there were customers in the store. Bergen says, “At the end of it they let them go and said sorry for scaring the sh*t out of you and they all laughed.”

The Saskatoon Police Department issued a statement in response to the incident saying an officer reported seeing three males matching the description of the suspects and due to the report of firearms being used in the armed robbery the officers drew their sidearms and kept them at “low-ready” as they stopped the males. The police department says the boys were released after being questioned and their parents were contacted. The Saskatoon Police Service has advised one of the parents, who expressed concern, of the formal complaints process which Tracy Bergen says she plans to pursue.

Full statement from the Saskatoon Police Service:

Saskatoon Police received a report at approximately 7:30 p.m., November 25, 2023, that an armed robbery had occurred at an ATM in the 300 block of Ludlow Street.  The male victim reported that two unknown male suspects, armed with guns, had approached him while he was withdrawing money from the ATM.  They stole cash and fled the scene on foot.  The victim described the suspects as wearing masks.

At approximately 8:10 p.m. an officer reported seeing three males, matching the description of the suspects, walking from the McCormand Road overpass, into the Brighton shopping area.  Responding officers stopped the three males as they were entering a store in the 100 block of Gibson Bend.  Due to the report of firearms being used in the armed robbery, officers drew their sidearms and kept them at the low-ready as they stopped the males.  The males were then questioned and found not to have been involved in the armed robbery.  They were released immediately and parents were contacted. 

A parent of one of the males who was stopped has contacted the SPS Professional Standards Division, expressed their concerns about the incident.  They were advised of the formal complaints process.