VANCOUVER – An external review into the fatal shooting of Paul Boyd six years ago by a Vancouver police officer is nearly complete, says the lead investigator.
Gary Keeser, who is heading the probe with the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, said he is “very close to concluding,” his report and expects to send it to the ASIRT’s executive director in the next couple of weeks. Following that, the report will be sent to B.C.’s attorney general.
He could not release any details about his findings, but said the public can expect a comprehensive and thorough report.
“We are confident we have put forward a very good package,” he said. “There was a tremendous amount of information to go through.”
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Last May, disturbing video showing Boyd crawling across a Vancouver street before he was shot by a police officer prompted the external review.
The 49-second video, which was released five years after Boyd was killed, was shot by a Winnipeg tourist and provided new evidence in the case.
The officer, Const. Lee Chipperfield was never charged in the August 2007 shooting, after the B.C. Criminal Justice Branch concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to establish that the officer’s use of force was excessive.
Boyd was shot after police officers responded to a 911 call and were confronted by a man swinging a bike chain. Chipperfield testified at an inquest that he thought Boyd was armed when he shot him in the head.
But the video appears to show Boyd was no longer holding the bike chain when he was shot.
Instead, it shows a police officer next to Boyd bending down and picking up the chain as Boyd, who was already injured by several police bullets, crawled across the street.
Boyd, 39 had a successful career as an animator. But he was also bipolar, and on the night of Aug. 13, 2007, police were called to several 911 complaints of a male causing a disturbance and assaulting a man on the city’s busy south Granville Street.
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