VANCOUVER - A Mountie involved in a fatal shooting in Vanderhoof, B.C., four years ago has been suspended with pay.
The force alleges Const. Ryan Sheremetta gave misleading testimony at an inquest into the 2004 death of Kevin St. Arnaud, who was shot after a drug store burglary.
The testimony dealt with Sheremetta's experience in dealing with weapons seizures and did not relate to the specific shooting incident.
"Concerns were raised and the RCMP launched an internal and an external Criminal Code investigation into the allegations,'' Assistant Commissioner Al Macintyre said at a news conference Monday.
The issue also has been referred to the Toronto police for an independent review.
Macintyre said Sheremetta was suspended under the RCMP Act over allegations that he conducted himself "in a disgraceful manner that could bring discredit on the force by knowingly making false, misleading or inaccurate statement(s) while testifying ...''
It is not up to the RCMP decide whether will be laid, Macintyre said.
"It would be presumptuous to guess what (charges) might be, because ... the whole matter has to be reviewed by Crown counsel so I think I'll leave that up to them,'' he said.
"We've identified what we believe to be the issue and it's now up to them because they have charge approval to identify what that might be, if evidence supports the laying of the information.''
Prior to his suspension, Sheremetta was stationed at the Kamloops, B.C., detachment on administrative duties.
Last January, the coroner's jury ruled that St. Arnaud's death was a homicide by an officer in the line of duty.
The 19-year-old welder tried to break into a drug store after spending the night at a bar.
When police arrived, St. Arnaud ran to a nearby sports field and was shot at three times by Sheremetta, who testified he was forced to fire because St. Arnaud turned towards him aggressively.
There was conflicting testimony about whether Sheremetta was in an upright shooting stance or falling backwards when he fired the fatal shots.
The coroner's jury made several recommendations, including changes to police staffing levels in off-hours, better communications and making sure police identify themselves properly.
