B.C.’s independent police watchdog has ruled an RCMP officer was justified in the fatal shooting of a man near Slocan more than three years ago.
Peter de Groot was killed in a cabin on October 13, 2014, four days after he disappeared into the bush following a confrontation with police in the small southeastern community.
WATCH: Global News coverage of Peter de Groot
The RCMP said the officer shot de Groot when he raised a rifle as the Mountie opened the cabin door — although the Independent Investigations Office says that appeared to be contradicted by an initial autopsy that found he was shot in the back.
But it says another autopsy commissioned by the man’s family as well as a fourth autopsy it ordered due to contradictory evidence shows he was actually shot in the neck with the bullet going out the back — supporting the officer’s argument that he was protecting himself from death or serious harm.