A Kamloops RCMP officer has been cleared of wrongdoing by the province’s police watchdog after a fatal shootout near Rose Hill last fall.
In a report released today, the Independent Investigations Office says the evidence does not provide grounds to consider any charges.
A man was killed after a shootout with police on Sept. 14th, outside of his trailer near the Rose Hill subdivision, southeast of the city centre.
“A gentleman was parked on the side of a rural road, and they engaged with him to try to find out more information. And as that occurred the gentleman went back inside the trailer that he was towing with his truck, and came out first with the point of a shotgun and fired towards the officers,” IIO Chief Civilian Officer Ronald McDonald says.
“What happened from that point forward can best be described as a shootout. There were in excess of 40 shots taken by police and 11 shots taken by the male. Only one shot from police struck him, which was fatal, causing him to go down.
“Given the fact that the police were facing lethal threat from the affected person, they were justified and indeed it’s their duty to protect each other and themselves, and thus were justified in firing back against that deadly threat.”
McDonald says the IIO interviewed nine civilian witnesses and four witness officers, and he says witness testimony was consistent and lined up with forensic evidence.
He says the subject officer did not participate in the investigation, and he says that choice was not an unsual situation..