SURREY, B.C. - British Columbia's police watchdog has forwarded a report to Crown counsel into a downtown Vancouver shootout previously described by a senior officer as "extraordinary."

The mayhem began June 10, 2014, when plainclothes officers witnessed a shooting outside of downtown coffee shop that left the victim fighting for his life.

Deputy police chief Doug LePard said at the time officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect at the scene and then at a family and tourist attraction called Science World after a brief bike chase along a seawall.

LePard called the incident extraordinary at the time and something he had never seen in his 33-year career.

The Independent Investigations Office says its acting chief civilian director has completed an investigation and determined an officer may have committed an offence.

The director does not recommend a charge, a job the watchdog says is left to the Crown, which must determine if there's a reasonable chance of conviction and the prosecution is in the public's interest.