The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of British Columbia has concluded that no charges will be recommended against a Creston RCMP officer who fatally shot a 16-year-old boy on December 14, 2022, during a targeted operation to curb late-night property crimes.
According to the IIO’s public report released on July 11, 2025, officers were patrolling Creston to address a spike in property crimes and vehicle thefts.
At around 4:23 am, officers observed a stolen pickup truck driven erratically, ignoring stop signs.
The officer relayed what they had seen over the radio and the four officers came up with a plan to follow the fresh tracks in the snow.
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The vehicle, driven by the affected person (AP), was followed into a residential driveway by the subject officer (SO) and a witness officer (WO2). It was later determined the AP was a teenager and the truck had been stolen several hours earlier, the IIO wrote.
Video evidence from WO2’s police vehicle showed the SO turn off the highway and stop in the driveway. The IIO wrote that the teen turned the truck around to face the RCMP officers before accelerating toward the SO, who had just exited his vehicle, nearly running him over and scraping the officer’s car.
The SO then took out his gun and moved down the length of his cruiser to avoid being hit.
As he did this, he fired his gun towards the truck, which then collided with WO2’s car.
A forensic investigation later determined the officer fired eight shots in “rapid succession” in the direction of the truck’s driver side. The final shot broke the driver’s window and hit the youth in the torso.
The youth then backed the truck up and drove forward to get around the second police vehicle but hit a woodshed and fled the scene before crashing into a ditch two kilometers away.
“During the investigation, information came to light that there was a passenger in the pickup truck and the AP was no longer driving the truck after he was shot,” the IIO wrote.
The youth was found unconscious and the officer made efforts to save him. Paramedics attended and continued the life saving effort for another 45 minutes but the youth was pronounced dead at 5:45 am.
The IIO investigation, which included witness statements, police records, video footage, forensic analysis, and an autopsy, determined that the SO’s use of lethal force was justified.
Jessica Berglund, chief civilian director, said the video evidence showed it was "reasonable for the SO to believe that the youth’s driving posed a threat of death or grievous bodily harm.”
Berglund wrote that the SO stopped firing once he believed the danger had passed.
“We do not know what the AP intended when he drove forward in the direction of both police and the only exit to the dead-end driveway he was in,” the report said.
The report said regardless of the youth’s intent, it was "objectively reasonable” for the officer to believe he was in serious danger and his radio transmission that relayed information about shots being fired captured that.
Berglund stated there were no reasonable grounds to believe the officer committed an offence, and the case will not be referred to Crown counsel.
The report’s release was delayed until July 2025 due to concurrent court proceedings.
