Penticton RCMP officer cleared of wrongdoing after a man was shot in October

The police watchdog has found that a RCMP officer’s deployment of their gun in an October 2024 arrest was “justified and lawful.”

On Oct. 22, 2024, the Penticton RCMP received several calls about a man acting "erratically" and reportedly waving a knife on Government Street.

An interaction between an officer and the suspect ended with the male suspect being fatally shot and the officer being taken to the hospital with injuries.

On Friday, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of BC released its in-depth report.

The report includes evidence from 23 civilian witnesses and six police officers, audio recordings of 911 calls, police radio transmissions, recordings from a police vehicle dash camera and CCTV, BC Transit and City of Penticton traffic camera recordings.

When the 911 calls started coming in shortly after 3 pm that day, the subject officer (SO) responded and located the affected person (AP/suspect) walking on the sidewalk, turned on his emergency lights and pulled his police vehicle over to the curb.

When the officer exited the vehicle, there was an almost immediate interaction between him and the man and a “brief scuffle” took place, the IIO said.

The man was seen taking a knife from inside his coat and repeatedly making slashing and stabbing motions towards the officer, who ended up with a wounded hand.

“The SO attempted to retreat around his police vehicle but was followed by the AP, and at this point the SO drew his service pistol and discharged it at the AP, who was fatally wounded,” the report said.

Witnesses told the IIO that the officer was shouting commands such as “stop,” “back off” and “get down” as he drew his pistol and pointed it at the man.

Video footage shows the officer discharging multiple rounds at the man’s upper body but despite being struck visibly several times, the man continued to pursue the officer before collapsing.

According to Jessica Berglund, chief civilian director, the RCMP officer was acting lawfully when he stopped to investigate the man in response to civilian complaints.

In her report, Berglund said there was no evidence of anything done by the office to provoke the assault from the man, which turned into “a pursuit of the SO with a potentially deadly weapon at very close range.”

Berglund said the deployment of the officer’s gun was justified and lawful and the matter will not be forwarded to Crown counsel for consideration of charges.