The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) is asking crown counsel to consider charges against three officers involved in the July 8, 2021 shooting of a Wet鈥檚uwet鈥檈n man in Campbell River.
A decision is pending regarding a fourth officer involved in the incident.
Jared Lowndes, 38, was killed in a police-involved incident in the parking lot of the Willow Point Tim Hortons in Campbell River. During the incident, a police dog was also killed and the dog鈥檚 RCMP handler was injured.
According to a press release from the IIO, at about 5:30 a.m. on July 8, 2021, an officer attempted to check a parked vehicle, a blue Audi. The Audi drove away and there was contact between it and the police vehicle. The officer did not pursue at the time but told other RCMP members of the incident.
Later, at 9 a.m., the police located the vehicle again. Officers stopped the Audi in the Tim Hortons drive thru.
鈥淒uring the interaction that followed, shots were fired by police, and the man was subsequently pronounced deceased,鈥� the release says.
The IIO is not releasing further details of the interaction, saying it could 鈥減rejudice a potential prosecution.鈥�
However, IIO Chief Civilian Director Ronald J. MacDonald determined that 鈥渞easonable grounds exist to believe that three officers may have committed offences in relation to various uses of force.鈥�
The IIO is preparing a report to be submitted to BC Prosecution Service for consideration of charges in the coming months.
From there, the BC Prosecution Service can approve charges if they are 鈥渟atisfied that there is a substantial likelihood of conviction based on the evidence gathered by the IIO, and that prosecution be required in the public interest.鈥�
Lowndes鈥� family and the Pivot Legal Society held a press conference in Vancouver at 4 p.m. after being informed of the IIO鈥檚 decision by Chief Civilian Director Ronald MacDonald.
鈥淭his is the beginning of a fight that鈥檚 going to last a long time,鈥� said Laura Holland, Lowndes鈥� mother at the conference. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to stop killing us. We are people too.鈥�
During the conference, Holland and supporters pledged to continue putting pressure on the crown in regards to this matter and future violence towards Indigenous, Black and other racialized groups in Canada.
鈥淚t is time for police officers to be held accountable for the unnecessary use of force that too often results in the death of Indigenous community members,鈥� said a release from Pivot. 鈥淚n the 16 months since Jared鈥檚 death, there have been 74 reported incidents of in-custody deaths in B.C. alone.鈥�
The , which comes out at the end of March each year, says 鈥淚ndigenous Peoples are over-represented in IIO investigations,鈥� representing 28 per cent of people who self-identified their ethnicity, though Indigenous Peoples only represent six per cent of the province鈥檚 population.
鈥淲e will not stop making noise until this racist system is reversed,鈥� said Meenakshi Mannoe from the Pivot Legal Society. 鈥淭his IIO decision is not the same as Justice for Jared鈥� but this brings us one step closer to denouncing this racist system.鈥�
In 2021-2022, there were 12 cases referred to crown counsel for consideration of charges. That number has risen from six in 2019-2020, to eight the following year to 12 this year.
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marc.kitteringham@campbellrivermirror.com
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