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IIO clears Vancouver police officers in shooting

Click to play video: 'Man dies following police-involved shooting in DTES'
Man dies following police-involved shooting in DTES
A man has died following a police-involved shooting on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Exclusive video obtained by Global News appears to show the interaction between the distressed victim and officers -- but doesn't tell the whole story. Andrea Macpherson reports. WARNING: Disturbing Content. – Jan 5, 2021

British Columbia’s police watchdog has cleared Vancouver officers in the fatal shooting of a man in the Downtown Eastside earlier this year.

A report released by the Independent Investigations Office says the officers’ use of force in the Jan. 5 shooting was “justified, necessary and proportionate” because “they had no choice.”

It says officers responded to an early morning call from the Salvation Army, where a man who appeared to be drunk was banging on windows and had reportedly been seen carrying a sword.

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The report says the officers feared the man, who was not named by the oversight agency, would either stab them or one of the bystanders across the street.

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It says the officers were not carrying a stun gun and fired a total of five shots from their firearms from about three metres away.

The report says the man was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

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