The Independent Investigations Office of BC has determined that a man who was shot by an RCMP officer after he drove his car into a police vehicle outside of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment on May 12, 2023, did not sustain serious harm, and concluded its investigation into the incident.
A member of the detachment was doing a check of his vehicle in the detachment’s parking lot at around 6:30 a.m. that morning when a man drove into the lot and hit the police vehicle, which was pushed into a ditch, injuring the member.
A press release from the RCMP at the time said that another officer discharged his weapon at the suspect’s vehicle, hitting the man.
Both the suspect and the RCMP officer were taken to hospital with what were believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.
“On behalf of the chief civilian director, the IIO’s general counsel has reviewed the evidence – including video footage and medical records – and determined that the driver of the Mazda did not sustain serious harm, as defined by the Police Act,” a statement from the IIO said.
“The IIO investigation is now concluded.”
The IIO is an independent civilian oversight agency of the police in British Columbia.
It investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.
IIO spokesman Simon Druker explained that the investigation determined the man who was shot did not sustain serious harm as defined in Part 11 of the Police Act.
“Under the Act, serious harm is defined as an injury that may result in death, may cause serious disfigurement or may cause substantial loss or impairment of mobility of the body as a whole or of the function of any limb or organ,” he said.
“We cannot comment further on the specific nature of the injuries sustained by the (man) in this case beyond what has already been said in our media releases.”