WARNING: This story contains some details readers could find disturbing.
A 37-year-old man has died after he was shot by Vancouver police Tuesday morning, the department said.
Officers were called by the BC Ambulance Service to a residential building near Princess Avenue and Hastings Street just before 5 a.m.
Paramedics said the man was “acting erratic and aggressive,” according to police.
The man had allegedly smashed the window to his room and was throwing large wooden objects out the window, police said, adding that he already had multiple injuries.
“Before police arrived, the man had left his residence and went to the street with a weapon in his hand,” Const. Tania Visintin said in a news release.
“Reports came in that this man was chasing people with the weapon and using it in an aggressive and threatening manner. The man was subsequently shot by police.”
Video obtained by Global News showed the man was naked and carrying a large weapon, possibly a sword.
The Independent Investigations Office, which looks into incidents of serious harm or death involving police, was called in.
The intersection was closed for most of the day.
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner confirmed Tuesday it will also initiate a Police Act investigation into what happened. These investigations are started whenever death or serious harm results from an incident involving municipal police officers.
This investigation is separate from the IIO investigation.
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