Two Vancouver police officers will not be facing charges related to the shooting death of a man who had a history of mental illness, British Columbia’s Criminal Justice Branch said Thursday.
Two Vancouver police officers will not be facing charges related to the shooting death of a man who had a history of mental illness, British Columbia's Criminal Justice Branch said Thursday.
It's a decision that disappoints the legal advocacy group Pivot Legal Society, which said officers acted too quickly when they shot Tony Du three times.
The officers had responded to reports of a distraught 51-year-old man swinging a two-by-four at an intersection in the city's east end on Nov. 22, 2014.
A report from the justice branch said the man pointed the two-by-four at the officers in a threatening manner and did not comply with their orders to drop it, leading one officer to discharge a beanbag weapon.
When the less lethal option failed to stop the suspect, the branch said the second officer shot the man, who was taken to hospital but died during surgery.
The entire altercation, from when police first arrived at the scene to when an ambulance was requested, happened within a minute and 14 seconds.
The branch said the man had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had previously suffered from hallucinations, but did not have a history of being violent.