Sgt. Bruce Edwards, who was then a constable, is pictured with police dog Wizzard. (Edmonton Police Service)Calgary Crown prosecutors have determined the Edmonton police officer who shot Kirk Steele four times in 2006 will not face an aggravated assault charge.

In a Feb. 9 letter to Steele's lawyer, Tom Engel, Assistant Chief Crown prosecutor Cary Rodin states the charge against Sgt. Bruce Edwards will be stayed because it does not meet "the threshold requirement of reasonable likelihood of conviction."

Steele laid a private information last fall to have Edwards charged with attempted murder. Provincial court Judge Ernie Walters rejected that request, but ordered that prosecution proceed on an aggravated assault charge.

The Crown prosecutor was to determine whether the charge should be laid or withdrawn.

Engel now plans to take the matter to a Court of Queen's Bench judge.

Steele was shot seven times by Edwards in July 2006 after Steele stabbed a police dog with a steak knife.

Last year, Alberta Queen's Court Justice Eric Macklin stayed two of three criminal charges against Steele after ruling his charter rights were violated by the "excessive force" used by police.

Kirk Steele nearly died from the injuries he sustained in the July 2006 shooting. (CBC)Four bullets struck Steele in the shooting. He almost died and spent several weeks on life-support in an Edmonton hospital.

In September, Steele swore an information against Edwards before a justice of the peace. A process hearing was then held by the provincial court judge to determine if there was enough evidence to lay charges.

Edwards faces an internal disciplinary hearing in the matter, even though he was cleared in an internal police investigation in November 2007.

In March 2010, Steele, then 37, was found guilty of one count of being unlawfully at large. He was sentenced to six months in jail.