Officer's fatal shooting of Kamloops suspect was 'necessary and reasonable' use of force, IIO finds

The officer who shot and killed a forcible confinement suspect in Kamloops two years ago was justified in doing so.

That's the conclusion reached in a report published last week by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. on the Aug. 14, 2022 incident. 

The report includes a detailed narrative of the events, which was compiled using a variety of written and audio records, as well as statements from 15 witness police officers and an interview with a civilian witness (referred to throughout the document as "the CW") who was taken hostage during the incident.

The subject officer, who shot the suspect, also provided a statement to the IIO, something officers under investigation are not required to do.

In the report, IIO chief civilian director Jessica Berglund describes the subject officer's statement as "a great assistance to the investigation."

According to the report, the incident began when the civilian witness met with the suspect – her ex-spouse – to pick up their two children.

The suspect – referred to in the document as the "affected person" or "AP" – assaulted the witness and took her and her youngest child hostage, locking them in her vehicle and driving them to a remote construction site where he had been working.

The report indicates he broke into an office trailer and took the two hostages inside.

"The CW said that the AP spent the night consuming drugs, talking about killing himself and making goodbye videos for his children," the report reads.

"She said that a little before dawn, he decided to leave. He left the trailer carrying the child, a pistol in his hand. The CW followed several steps behind him. She said that a bright light then came on and she saw police officers coming from cover, shouting at the AP to get down on the ground. She said she heard two shots and was pulled to the ground by an officer before being taken with her child to a waiting ambulance."

Police – including heavily armed emergency response team (ERT) officers – had taken up positions outside the trailer during the night, and the report notes that if the suspect had not exited the trailer when he did, officers likely would have had to break into it.

"Given the leverage that his captives gave him, it was not a situation where it would have been appropriate for police to announce their presence and attempt to negotiate a resolution," the document reads. "The AP had created a situation that was only likely to be resolved by force."

According to the subject officer's statement, a lengthy portion of which is reproduced in the IIO report, responding officers made plans to use a 40-millimetre "less-lethal" round on the suspect "at the earliest available opportunity."

When the suspect exited the trailer, he began walking toward the vehicle where the subject officer was positioned. The officer reported believing that if the suspect reached the vehicle, he would attempt to force the civilian witness and the child to accompany him, and he would eventually kill one or both of his hostages.

"When the suspect neared, I heard what I believed was the 40-millimetre launcher deploy, and someone yell, 'Police, you're under arrest,'" the officer's statement reads, as reproduced in the IIO report.

"The male did not let go of the child or surrender, and instead started shouting and reaching for his waistband."

The officer then shot the suspect twice, first in the leg, and then – after a pause – in the neck. The officer's account describes what happened in vivid detail.

"When I reached the suspect, I observed that he had a pistol in his hand and was raising it upward," the officer's statement reads.

"The child was in his lap, and I feared that the suspect would shoot and kill the child, one of the other officers who were fast approaching, or myself. I quickly aimed at the upper body and shot the suspect again."

The officer then describes transitioning quickly from shooting the suspect to treating his injuries.

The suspect was found to have a loaded handgun with a bullet in the chamber and the safety off, according to the report.

"Police in this case applied force in a manner that was motivated by the priority of avoiding harm to either the CW or the child," the report reads. "The AP could not be allowed to drive away with his hostages because of the extreme risk to them, so it was necessary and reasonable to use lethal force against him to prevent that."

Accordingly, Berglund found there were no reasonable grounds to believe any officer had committed an offence when responding to the situation, and concluded the IIO investigation without a report to Crown prosecutors.