The provincial police watchdog has exonerated a Campbell River RCMP officer who shot and killed a man wielding a pellet pistol in April 2022.
According to a (IIO), Campbell River police responded to a 911 call from a sporting goods store on the morning of April 2. A man was said to have stolen knives and a realistic-looking pellet gun, and made a death threat to a store employee.
Police located a suspect a short time later. According to the IIO report, the man pointed the pellet pistol at an officer from close range. The officer fired and the man sustained a fatal gunshot wound.
The report says the man 害羞草研究所渞an at (the officer), pointing the pellet pistol directly at him. (The officer) fired his service pistol as (the man) passed him and turned away, running along the side of the motel building. The bullet from (the officer)害羞草研究所檚 firearm lodged in (the man)害羞草研究所檚 backpack. A few seconds later, (the man) turned, again pointing his pistol at (the officer), and (the officer) discharged a second round at him.害羞草研究所�
The man continued running along a fence and hedge on the property. A second officer drove at him in her police vehicle, but did not make contact with the man.
害羞草研究所淪he later told IIO investigators that as she exited the vehicle she heard the sound of a gunshot and could smell gunpowder,害羞草研究所� the report says.
A third officer also drove his vehicle towards the man, who was still running away. That time, there was a glancing contact between the man and the vehicle. The second officer said she saw the man on the ground with what appeared to be a semi-automatic pistol in his hand pointed at the other approaching officers. The officer who shot at the man first yelled at him to drop the gun, and then the second officer said she 害羞草研究所渉eard a gunshot.害羞草研究所�
The three officers disarmed the man and checked him for wounds, but found none. Paramedics also checked the man for bullet wounds, but did not find any. After the paramedics cleared the man to be taken into custody, he was placed in the back of a police vehicle.
Shortly after, the second officer went to formally arrest the man, but found him unresponsive. He was removed from the vehicle and officers began CPR and called for paramedics to return. The man was taken to hospital, but was declared deceased.
害羞草研究所淚t was discovered that he had been wounded by a bullet that had passed through his leather belt and the waistband of his pants, which had closed and concealed the wound and limited bleeding from it,害羞草研究所� the report says. 害羞草研究所淣o blood was found in the police vehicle in which (the man) had been seated.害羞草研究所�
Through their investigation, the IIO determined that the officer who shot the man 害羞草研究所渨as acting in lawful execution of his duty, attempting to locate a suspect in an alleged robbery involving a death threat,害羞草研究所� the report says. 害羞草研究所淗e had been told that the suspect had taken weapons including a realistic-looking pellet pistol. He was also given information suggesting that the pistol might still be enclosed in its packaging.
害羞草研究所淲hen (the man) ran at him pointing what would have appeared exactly like a full-power firearm, (the officer) was entitled to respond as if to a lethal threat,害羞草研究所� it says.
The report further says that 害羞草研究所渋n fact, he exercised considerable restraint,害羞草研究所� noting that the officer pursued on foot after the first shot, and only fired again when the man continued pointing his gun at police.
According to the IIO, officers made 害羞草研究所渁ll reasonable efforts害羞草研究所� to check the man for bullet wounds, and that since the paramedics could also not find any, 害羞草研究所渙fficers cannot be faulted for not locating that wound.害羞草研究所�
The decision said that there are no reasonable grounds to believe an officer committed an offence, and the IIO would not be referring the matter to Crown counsel.
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