Man shot by police at Vancouver SkyTrain station taken to hospital
CBC News | Posted: December 19, 2016 5:37 PM | Last Updated: December 20, 2016
Man refused orders to drop his weapon, police say
A man has been taken to hospital after being shot by a police officer at Vancouver's 29th Avenue SkyTrain station.
According to a police statement, the shooting occurred this morning while Vancouver police officers were helping transit officers respond to reports of a man with a machete inside the station, located southeast of downtown.
Cellphone video sent to CBC shows a man carrying what appears to be a weapon at the SkyTrain station, and shortly afterwards — off screen — there is the sound of a loud bang and the clanging metallic sound of something falling.
An image captured by a CBC photographer showed a serrated-edged weapon in the snow, outside the station, behind yellow tape. It is unknown if that weapon is connected to the man who was inside the station.
In a statement, the Vancouver Police Department said transit police were alerted around 8.30 a.m. PT that a man was threatening commuters with a machete.
When police arrived, the man was aboard a train. Officers closed off the area, evacuated the train and closed all the doors on the car, leaving the man alone inside.
Refused to drop weapon, police say
Police officers tried to negotiate with the man, but he broke through the closed train doors.
He was ordered to drop his weapon, but refused, and police shot him, the statement said.
The man was taken to hospital, but his condition is unknown.
The incident caused delays on SkyTrain's Expo line, which was already backed up after a snowstorm struck the region overnight.
TransLink, the agency that oversees Vancouver's rapid rail system and other transit services, said the 29th Avenue station has reopened.
A passenger who was on a downtown-bound train this morning at the same time as the incident was unfolding at the 29th Avenue station told CBC News that her train didn't stop at that station, but she heard loud shouting as her train passed by.
The Independent Investigations Office, the province's civilian-led agency that investigates situations involving police that result in serious injury or death, will be looking into the shooting.
TransLink said trains are turning back at Nanaimo and Joyce stations, and it is working to implement bus service.