BURNABY, B.C. -- A British Columbia police officer says he wanted to keep himself and his friends safe when he fatally shot an armed man during a five-hour standoff outside a Metro Vancouver casino.
Delta Police Const. Jordan MacWilliams told a coroner's inquest that he was assigned the role of "lethal overwatch" during a hostage rescue where 48-year-old Mehrdad Bayrami was killed in November 2012.
MacWilliams says throughout the standoff he was 100-per-cent focused on Bayrami's hand and fired his weapon after he saw the man's gun point directly at him.
MacWilliams was originally charged with second-degree murder, but charges against him were later stayed.
Police were originally called when a casino employee witnessed a man threatening a woman with a pistol through live security footage.
Bayrami's daughter filed a civil lawsuit against the officer claiming he shot her father without warning or justification, but the lawsuit was later dismissed by consent from the parties.
