B.C.’s police watchdog has cleared the RCMP of any wrongdoing in a fatal shooting in Dawson Creek last year. Based on interviews with witnesses and evidence from the scene, the IIOBC says none of the officers involved committed any offence.
Mounties responded to a disturbance at a Site C open house on July 16th, 2015, and found a man in a mask outside the building. According to the report, witnesses say he lunged at police, refused to drop the switchblade he had in his hand, and wasn’t affected by the use of pepper spray. The officers weren’t carrying tasers.
48 year old James McIntyre was shot, and passed away at the local hospital. According to the autopsy report, the bullet hit him in the pelvic area and tore his right femoral artery and vein. He died of massive blood loss.
McIntyre was an associate of the hacker collective Anonymous and was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask at the time. As it turns out, he was not the subject of the initial complaint at the open house.