Transit police officer used 'reasonable force' in fatal confrontation: police watchdog
The Canadian Press | Posted: May 16, 2016 11:15 PM | Last Updated: May 18, 2016
Victim had reportedly stabbed himself several times inside a Safeway grocery store
A transit police officer has been cleared of wrongdoing in a fatal confrontation in Surrey, B.C.
The Independent Investigations Office, the civilian agency that investigates serious police-related incidents, issued a report saying the officer used reasonable force when she shot 23-year-old Naverone Woods in a Safeway store in December 2014.
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The report says two officers arrived at the scene and were confronted by a shirtless man with multiple wounds who had reportedly stabbed himself inside the grocery store.
Police ordered Woods to drop the knives he was waving, but he did not and instead moved towards the officers.
The report says the knives could have caused the officers serious injury or death and the female officer's decision to fire her gun was reasonable given the circumstances.
The officer later told investigators that she believed the young man was high on drugs or in a severe episode of mental illness.
Corrections:
- A previous version of this story stated Woods was shot in a Safeway parking lot. In fact, the IIO report states he was shot in the Safeway store. May 18, 2016 5:57 PM