Victoria police justified in shooting armed man at Royal Jubilee Hospital, watchdog finds

Man shot in Victoria ER identified Information on the man who was shot by police in a Victoria ER for allegedly holding a weapon are beginning to emerge.

A Victoria police officer was justified in shooting a man armed with a knife in the emergency department of the Royal Jubilee Hospital last year, the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. has concluded.

The provincial police watchdog issued its decision on the matter Thursday, finding the officer's actions were necessary and appropriate after a fellow officer's attempt to subdue the man with a Taser was ineffective.

According to the IIO report, the man had been transported to hospital by paramedics on March 15, 2021, after reporting he had ingested plutonium.

Approximately 30 minutes after he was admitted, a witness reported the man had a vacant look on his face and was brandishing a knife, saying, "I want to kill somebody or someone," according to the IIO report.

A hospital security guard ordered the man to drop the knife but he refused. The guard told IIO investigators the man "just stared at me, blank state, didn't say anything, really no reaction."

The guard summoned two police officers who were already at the hospital for an unrelated matter.

One officer drew her Taser and the other drew her pistol. The man continued to advance with the knife held out toward the officer with the Taser, prompting her to fire the weapon, which struck the man but did not stop him, according to the report.

The officer told the investigators she believed the man was going to kill her.

A surveillance camera captured the moment the man was hit with the Taser, the red dot of the weapon's laser site visible on his body, the IIO reported.

"He then flinched and continued to move forward and out of the frame of the camera," according to investigators.

The other officer then fired her pistol once, striking the man in the abdomen. Even after he was shot and on the ground, he refused to drop with knife, according to police.

The officer who fired her Taser had to "rip" the knife from his hand because he was still clutching it so tightly, she said.

The man was handcuffed and underwent surgery at the hospital to repair the bullet wound.

When he was later interviewed, he told the IIO investigators that he wanted to die and the incident was a suicide attempt.

"This is an unfortunate example of a situation where both health-care professionals and police attempted to convince [the man] to drop the knife, but without success," Ronald MacDonald, the IIO's chief civilian director, said in his report.

"In the end, he deliberately took steps to make those around him believe he was intent on causing grievous bodily harm or death to one or more of them."

MacDonald said it would not have been appropriate for the officers to approach the man and "attempt to simply lay hands on him" while he was armed with the knife.

"It was both necessary and reasonable, in these circumstances, for his compliance to be obtained by the use of the CEW [conducted energy weapon] in the first instance," the IIO chief added.

"When the CEW failed, and officers were faced with the threat of an armed man approaching them and other civilians, using lethal force was necessary to prevent anyone from being harmed."

The man who was shot has since "significantly recovered from his injuries," the IIO said Thursday.