DETROIT – A 22-year-old Canadian man who was shot by U.S. border guards after pointing what appeared to be a gun at them is facing weapons-related charges in Windsor, Ont.
Windsor police say the man, who is currently in custody in Detroit, faces weapons and dangerous driving charges in connection with an incident just minutes earlier in the Canadian city and will be arrested if he crosses the border.
The U.S. border agency says the man stopped his car before the U.S. inspection booth at the Ambassador Bridge crossing around 3 a.m. on Sunday and started walking towards officers while waving what turned out to be a replica handgun.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection says officers ordered the man to drop the weapon but he then pointed it in their direction, prompting one officer to fire three shots and a second officer to fire a single round.
The man was hit once in the arm and was treated at a hospital before being taken into custody.
Windsor police say just 20 minutes before the incident at the border, the man was seen waving a handgun in a McDonald’s parking lot in the southwestern Ontario city, and refused to drop the weapon when ordered to by responding officers, pointing it at them instead before fleeing.
According to the police statement, the man asked the officers “Why haven’t you shot me yet?”
The statement says the officers tried to talk the man into surrendering, but he got back into his SUV and drove off before the officers could get back to their cruisers.
“Officers were faced with what they thought was a deadly threat and they showed tremendous restraint while re-assessing the situation. Although at one point, police considered the use of lethal forces, they opted not to,” said Windsor deputy police Chief Vince Power.
“These types of situations are dynamic.”
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