(Photo: Nathan Ritchie)

B.C.’s police watchdog is recommending charges against a Kamloops RCMP officer after a standoff at a home in Brock last year.

In that case, a man was shot with a less-lethal round by a Mountie, which fires a beanbag-like material. That happened on June 23, 2020 at about 10:45 p.m., when police were called to a report of an altercation with a weapon at a home in the 1000-block of Newton Street.

The IIO said at the time that police had set up a containment area after a woman came out of the home, and that a suspect, who was a man, later came outside. The less-lethal shotgun round was fired after the suspect reportedly did not follow instructions.

After the standoff ended, the report of an altercation was later deemed to be false.

In a report released Wednesday, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) said the man was seriously injured in the incident when he was hit with the less-lethal round. Police dog services had also been used to arrest him, before he was transported to hospital.

IIO chief civilian director Ronald McDonald wrote in the report that there are reasonable grounds to say the officer involved “committed offences in relation to the use of force.”

McDonald says the BC Prosecution Service will only approve charges if there’s a “substantial likelihood” of conviction in the case.