British Columbia’s police watchdog says there are reasonable grounds to believe that an RCMP officer in Chilliwack may have committed offences in the use of a firearm during a shooting last year that left a man seriously injured.
The Independent Investigations Office says in a statement that it filed a report with the B.C. Prosecution Service for consideration of charges.
The office says the shooting happened Jan. 12 last year when police responded to a report of a man involved in a domestic incident in Chilliwack.
It says the man left his home and when officers approached him in his vehicle at a city intersection, an “interaction occurred” where shots were fired by police and the man was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
The statement says releasing further details about the interaction could prejudice a potential prosecution.
It says the evidence was reviewed by Ronald MacDonald, the chief civilian director for the office, and he determined that reasonable grounds exist to believe one officer may have committed offences in relation to use of a firearm.
In order to approve charges, the prosecution service must be satisfied that there’s a likelihood of conviction based on the evidence gathered by the office, and that a prosecution is in the public interest.
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