Nanaimo RCMP officers closed a section of Haliburton St. in July 2022 after a police-involved shooting. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

INVESTIGATION CLOSED

No charges recommended after fatal police-involved shooting near Nanaimo mill

Feb 8, 2023 | 10:34 AM

Editor’s Note: The following story contains details some readers may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.

NANAIMO — The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. has found no grounds for charges against a local Mountie after they deployed ultimately lethal force.

A report released Wednesday, Feb. 8 suggested the officer in question, referred to as SO (subject officer) in the report, was justified in their actions during a July 23, 2022 incident along Haliburton St., near Nanaimo Coastland Mill.

Calls to 911 came around 2 p.m. from a woman (CW1 – civilian witness 1) driving in a car with the victim (AP – affected person). Investigators learned AP became increasingly agitated during an argument, causing the woman to pull the car into the middle of Haliburton St. and demand the man leave.

“He refused, she said, so she tried to call 911. She said that AP grabbed her hand and punched her in the arm,” the report read. “As he took hold of the steering wheel and put his foot on the gas pedal, she was able to call 911, and reported that AP had assaulted her. She told the call taker that AP was mentally unwell and needed to be committed to hospital.”

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Two other witnesses (CW2 and CW3) in separate vehicles came upon the scene a short time later.

CW2 reported seeing the woman trying to escape, hitting the window on the inside, while CW3 told investigators she saw the woman “hanging out of the driver’s window, waving her arms and shouting, ‘Help me, help me.'”

An officer arrived a short time later, pulling directly in front of the stopped vehicle with the man and CW1 inside.

Witness testimony, combined with a still-connected 911 call from the woman, indicated the man got out of the car with a backpack and used it to swing at the officer’s vehicle.

“He’s chasing the cop car with his bag. Oh my God,” CW1 inside the car said.

The officer reversed his vehicle, telling dispatch “Hold on, he’s coming like running right at me. I’m reversing. This guy’s…mental.”

The IIO report then stated the officer attempted to grab the backpack through a now opened driver’s window, prompting the man to pull what turned out to be a replica gun, aiming it at the officer.

In dispatch audio, the woman is heard saying “Oh my God, what are you doing? He’s got a fake gun, he’s got a pellet gun.”

Investigators determined CW1 tried to muscle the man away from the officer but was unsuccessful.

The officer, partially out of his police cruiser, tried to subdue the man, however the replica handgun remained “in AP’s right hand, above his head and pointing down at SO,” the report read.

The first witness on scene told IIO investigators that the officer drew their firearm, aimed towards the attacker’s neck before firing.

“(CW1) said she heard gunshots and ran away to the back of the police vehicle,” the report stated.

Archived dispatch audio then recorded the officer, “Shots fired, shots fired. I’m okay. Multiple shots fired. This guy is dead. I need help right now. I’m hanging on my car. I’m hanging on this guy. Just come here please.”

Support officers arrived and found the initial responding officer “kind of like half out of the car,” still holding onto AP who was slumped against the police vehicle.

Officers found the firearm in between SO and the attacker, placing it on the ground next to them, with a second support officer watching the initial responder release the man to the ground, enabling him to exit the car.

Witness statements from the scene to IIO backed up the officer’s actions as self-defence.

“In the course of brief statements given to police, CW1 is recorded as saying, “There was no doubt [SO] shot in self-defence. He felt threatened,” the report stated.

The replica firearm was later confirmed to be a pellet gun.

An autopsy of the victim discovered fire gunshot wounds to the chest. Toxicology tests also performed revealed moderate to heavy alcohol consumption prior to the incident.

IIO investigators found no basis for charges through archived audio, witness statements and collected evidence.

“The analysis of this incident is not complicated, and the conclusion is plain. SO was in lawful execution of his duty, responding to 911 calls about a woman being assaulted.”

The report stated the officer responded to an item which “had every appearance of being a deadly weapon” and it was “absolutely reasonable for SO to believe that he was in imminent danger of grievous bodily harm or death, and was justified in using lethal force in self-defence.”

The IIO now deems the matter closed.

B.C.’s Independent Investigations Officer is a civilian-led organization which investigates situations of serious injury or death which may have been the result of police actions or inactions.

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