1 man fatally shot by police on Vancouver's Granville Bridge

VANCOUVER. B.C. -

British Columbia’s police watchdog is investigating after police fatally shot a man in Vancouver.

The violence unfolded on the Granville Street Bridge during rush hour Thursday night, snarling traffic and horrifying witnesses.

The Independent Investigations Office is now looking into what exactly happened.

Cellphone video, taken by a bystander, shows a group of first responders hovering around what appears to be a body beside an ambulance.

A witness first called 911 at 6:45 p.m. Thursday and reported that a man was acting erratically on the bridge.

The Vancouver Police Department says when officers arrived, an altercation broke out.

“Shots were fired by VPD officers and those shots resulted in the man being shot and killed,” said Sgt. Steve Addison.

A witness who lives in a nearby apartment told CTV News that she heard two gunshots shortly before 7 p.m.

She then filmed a video that shows three people walking towards the sidewalk, one of which appears to have their gun drawn.

“The officers perceived that there was a threat of either death or grievous bodily harm to them or to others, and then they made the decision to shoot the person on the bridge. We believe at this point, that the person either had a weapon or had access to a weapon,” said Addison.

Police are not releasing any details about the man’s identity while the IIO investigation is underway.

“This is going to be a thorough, objective investigation. It may take some months to complete,” Ronald MacDonald of the Independent Investigations Office told CTV News.

“We will likely have to wait to hear from some expert reports. We'll have to receive all the evidence both the scene evidence, video evidence, witness evidence, evidence of the background of the effective person. We’ll have to analyze that,” said MacDonald.

Two or three officers were involved in the interaction, according to Macdonald.

No one else was hurt in the altercation.

 

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Kraig Krause