Friends and family want answers as Vancouver Island man shot by police remains in intensive care

Friends of a Vancouver Island man shot in the head twice by police are demanding answers and praying for his recovery as he remains in intensive care at a Victoria hospital.

Davin Cochrane, 31, was shot twice in the head by police as they arrested him in Duncan Tuesday night.

Cochrane is on life support at Victoria General Hospital and according to long-time family friends, his survival is in doubt.

"It breaks my heart, it really does, how it went down," said Kiya Ball. "I don't feel like it was 'serve and protect.'"

Intense video circulating on social media shows a man driving a skid-steer loader erratically as police vehicles weave around him, seemingly trying to contain him, or, in some instances, ram him.

Police say one officer shot the man driving the machinery.

"They could have done many other options other than shooting somebody in the back of the head," said another friend, Tiffany Kovacs. "It shouldn't happen to anybody. Not anybody at all."

Mounties and a police watchdog have provided some details of the incident and an investigation into officers' conduct has been launched.

Earlier crash

Kovacs and Ball acknowledge Cochrane has a lengthy criminal record. They say he's struggled with mental health and addiction issues over the years. 

Online court records show numerous charges, mostly related to property crimes and fleeing from police. He's been featured in local newspaper stories either being arrested or wanted by police.

But they say over the last three years, he's turned his life around. He got engaged and became a father. 

They're baffled he would get in this kind of trouble but think the incident could have been spurred by a car crash Cochrane was in earlier Tuesday.

After the crash, he was in hospital and scheduled for knee surgery. He was given ketamine, a drug for anesthesia among other uses. Before the operation could begin, he up and left the hospital.

"Really unexpected and really unusual for him to do," said Kovacs. "That's why I do think that it [was] a factor in what had happened."

IIO investigating

North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP said in a statement they were called to a residential street where a man they believed was impaired was driving the loader at around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Mounties say they tried to get him to stop but there were collisions between the loader and police vehicles.

"During the interaction that followed, one officer discharged their weapon striking the driver," the statement read.

"Emergency Health Services were called and the man was transported to hospital with serious injuries."

The Independent Investigations Office (IIO), which steps in to investigate when an interaction with police in the province ends with someone being killed or seriously injured, is now involved. 

"Initial investigative steps will seek to confirm the details of the interaction between the man and police," the watchdog said in a statement of its own.

Cochrane's father, Michael, who traveled from Grande Prairie to Victoria to be at his son's side says regardless of the results of any investigation, his son will never be the same. 

Even if he survives, Michael said, Davin had a portion of his brain removed.

"I am overwhelmed by this and just need to devote every single moment I'm awake to be present by my son's side for him," Cochrane wrote in a Facebook message.

"I'm grateful for every cherished moment as the next is not promised."

Kovacs and Ball say those around Cochrane feel powerless. They've started an online GoFundMe campaign to pay for his family's expenses.

"We're praying that he comes out of this and he's going to be OK," said Ball. "But, you know, we can only pray. We can only hope."