A deadly police shooting in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside has sparked calls for officers to wear body-mounted cameras, and reignited the debate over the use of Tasers.

Police opened fire on a stabbing suspect outside the First United Church Thursday evening following a failed attempt to subdue him with beanbag rounds.

CTV News obtained cell phone video that captured part of the tense confrontation, depicting the suspect surrounded by at least three officers then running out of view. As he allegedly starts stabbing an innocent bystander off-camera, officers can be heard letting off five rounds in his direction.

The Pivot Legal Society said though the footage doesn’t offer a clear view of the critical moment, it still demonstrates the usefulness of having a video record, for the protection of both the public and police.

“Video like that I think is really helpful in all circumstances to be able to analyze whether what happened was correct and where we go from here,” said lawyer Doug King.

Pivot is calling for the Vancouver Police Department to bring in body-mounted cameras, which have already been tested in Toronto, Edmonton and Victoria, not just for serious incidents but day-to-day interactions as well – in spite of some concerns about privacy rights.

“The benefits we get in police accountability will ultimately outweigh those problems that we have with privacy,” King said.

Thursday’s shooting also revived questions about the use of police Tasers. Pivot said negative press surrounding the Tasering death of Robert Dziekanski in 2007 and several other incidents may have discouraged police departments from using conducted energy weapons, with unfortunate results.

“We had this problem before where [Tasers] were being used far too commonly, in situations where they shouldn’t have been used, and I have to ask that question of whether or not we have pulled back too far,” King said.

Beanbag rounds were ineffective against the stabbing suspect on Thursday, but King said the question of whether a Taser could have subdued him without taking his life will always linger.

“We have to ask that difficult question: are the protocols we have in place for how police respond actually adequate? Are they doing the job we want them to do?” he said.

“Unfortunately, the fact that we have more people being killed by police suggests that they’re not.”

Witnesses said the suspect was in an altercation with two other men, and stabbed or slashed one of them in the torso and the other in the head before police arrived.

Both were treated for non-life threatening injuries, but the woman who was attacked at random shortly after was much more severely wounded.

“Unfortunately, the woman that was involved in the incident did receive very serious injuries,” Sgt. Randy Fincham said Thursday. “She remains in hospital in critical condition.”

Police said the woman has undergone surgery and is in recovery.

All three men involved in the initial altercation were Somali, and some in the community have raised concerns about whether race played a part in the police response.

Jean de Dieu Hakizimana, who is organizing a candlelight vigil Friday under the name “African Lives Matter,” said many in Vancouver’s black community feel they’re treated differently than whites by police.

Killing any suspect is a blow to justice, he added, because it prevents them from facing the courts.

“We betrayed justice,” he said. “Justice has been taken by the VPD.”

B.C.’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office, was called to probe the deadly shooting, and has asked for any potential witnesses to come forward. The IIO can be reached at 1-855-446-8477.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Tom Popyk