Fatal police-involved shooting under investigation in East Vancouver

A fatal police-involved shooting is under investigation in East Vancouver.

The Vancouver Police Department said it was called to an apartment building near Commercial Drive and East 5th Avenue at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday after reports of an assault.

"When patrol officers arrived, there was an interaction that resulted in an exchange of gunfire," the VPD said in a news release the next morning.

Police said the suspect, who was a man in his 40s, died at the scene.

VPD said he was a resident of East Vancouver, but his identity has not been released.

“I can't get into the suspect's behavior. I can't get into anything that led up to the police arrival. That is something that will be flushed out by the (Independent Investigations Office),” said Const. Tania Visintin during a news conference Thursday morning.

However, she did confirm the initial assault took place inside the suspect’s suite.

An officer was injured and taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

“He went to hospital last night, but he's now at home resting,” said Visintin.

Witnesses told CTV News Vancouver they heard the shots ring out.

“I heard sirens and then gunshots going off like bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. So five shots, maybe six,” a witness who didn’t want to be identified told CTV News.

He looked outside his window and saw heavily armed police swarming the home next door.

That’s when he heard a knock on the door.

He says an officer in tactical gear asked to come in and use his window as a vantage point.

“They started busting windows,” he said.

He says he was told to wait in the hall.

“We could hear them operating and some gunshots were going off while we're hiding in the corridor. And that's when I believe they shot this particular person,” he said.

He says he didn’t see the victim.

“The last shot that went off was the end of all the confusion and it sounded like it came from my window.”

The IIO, B.C.’s police watchdog, confirmed Thursday morning that it was investigating the police-involved shooting.

“When officers arrived, an exchange of gunfire occurred. The man sustained gunshot injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene,” said the IIO in a news release.

It’s now asking anyone with more information about the incident to contact their witness line at 1-855-446-8477 or via the contact form on the iiobc.ca website.

The IIO is a civilian-led police oversight agency responsible for conducting investigations into incidents of death or serious harm that may have been the result of the actions or inactions of a police officer.

Other residents of the building were forced to evacuate.

“Police came up and knocked on our door and brought us out with their weapon drawn, like sneaking out, gave us directions on how to escape,” said Robbie, who fled the building.

“They told us there was a guy downstairs with a gun shooting at police for the last 30 minutes."

The coroner arrived on scene shortly before 6 a.m., removing one body on a stretcher.

There was still a heavy police presence with more than a dozen cruisers and a heavily armed tactical vehicle outside an apartment on East 5th Avenue.

A large portion of the neighbourhood was put behind police tape as investigators canvassed the area.

The witness was shaken about what unfolded in his home.

“I told the SWAT guy, 'Like, I gotta go get a drink because I can't handle this right now,'” he told CTV News.

VPD described it as a “high-risk situation” confirming that the emergency response team and an armoured vehicle with a battering ram were deployed.

“This was an exchange of gunfire at 8:30 at night on the Drive here, heavily populated. A bunch of restaurants, a bunch of pedestrians,” said Visintin.

“Anytime there's an exchange of gunfire. Where a life was taken especially, that's obviously very concerning for us, concerning for not only the police, but members of the public."

East 5th Avenue at Commercial Drive is expected to be closed for several hours.