It was almost 1:30 in the morning on May 13, 2015, when a pair of Burnaby Mounties were called to a home on Clare Avenue. The call came in as an “unwanted male” at a residence.
When the two cops showed up, they came across a man with a knife. One officer pulled out a Taser, but it didn’t stop the knife-wielding man. The second officer fired her pistol, hitting the suspect in the abdomen.
The man survived. But like any officer-involved shooting, the conduct of the officer and her use of force would be under investigation by the province’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of B.C.
On Tuesday, the IIO cleared the officer of any wrongdoing in the shooting.
The 14-page report detailed the investigation by the IIO, which included interviews with the officers, the man shot, witnesses and a use-of-force expert.
None of the people are identified.
The IIO concluded: “The officer’s actions do not appear to be based upon anything other than a reasonable belief by that officer that the force is necessary for the self-preservation of herself or the preservation of any one under her protection from death or grievous bodily harm.”
The suspect told investigators he was on the balcony of a house and saw police were out front. He said he grabbed the knife and a pillow, made the sign of the cross, went outside and put the knife over his chest, according to the IIO report.
“I ran down the balcony which took another, about, four seconds maybe, four, five seconds...they couldn’t really Tase me, because at that point I was pretty much ready to die,” read an excerpt from the report. “The affected person told IIO investigators that he was saying at the time of the incident, ‘Shoot me, shoot me, shoot me’ at which time he, ‘...was completely across the street.’ He went on to say, ‘I remember looking in her eyes and she looked in her radio and she says, shots fired, shots fired, shots fired. And I think --she said it twice for sure. And then, and then she shot me in the abdomen.’”
He also told investigators he wasn’t within striking distance and police could have easily avoided shooting him as he wasn’t making any quick movements.
But after interviews with witnesses, IIO investigators found inconsistencies in the shooting victim’s statements.
While in his statement he said the officer was up to 20 feet away when she shot him, a paramedic’s statement noted that the man said he was shot by a gun and that it was from five feet away.
While the report noted a witness, who called police and knew the man, expressed concern with the officer’s actions, he also said the shooting victim was “going toward them fast” and that the female officer was standing in the middle of the street.
One officer told the IIO he was standing in the wide open and he did not have any cover as the man was coming his way. “I had no doubt in my mind that he, his intention was to kill or harm myself, the other police officer...or the complainant, who was also standing nearby, or even himself. There (were) a lot of people that I was concerned would be harmed as a result of the (affected person’s) actions,” the officer said.
The IIO’s own use of force concluded: “It is my assessment (the witness officer’s) use of the CEW (Taser) to attempt to stop the threat posed by (the affected person) was reasonable given the totality of the situation. In this instance, given the threat of grievous bodily harm or death posed by (the affected person), it is my assessment that (the subject officer’s) deployment of her firearm to stop (the affected person) was reasonable and in compliance with her tactical and firearms training.”
The report noted the officer who fired the shot declined to be interviewed by the IIO or to provide any report, which is her right.
The IIO also said at the time the decision was issued, it did not appear that the officer had completed any reports or notes of her recollection of the incident.
There are several IIO investigations related to Burnaby RCMP still outstanding, including three from March 2015.
