Officers’ errors in carjacking not criminal: B.C. police watchdog

VANCOUVER - The Independent Investigations Office has concluded that Vancouver police officers involved in a 2024 carjacking incident made errors, but those mistakes were not criminal. On November 30th, 2024, two officers responded to a call of a carjacking on Main Street. They positioned their vehicle in front of the targeted car before approaching on foot from opposite sides.

During the encounter, one officer attempted to break the driver's window with the butt of his pistol, causing an accidental discharge of his firearm. The other officer, hearing the discharge, believed the driver had shot at his colleague and fired his pistol, hitting the man in the upper right arm.

Despite being directed to cease their pursuit, the officers continued and failed to communicate with each other, despite difficulty in seeing one another from their respective positions. The police watchdog found one of the officers acted "inappropriately" by trying to use his pistol to break the glass, leading to the fatal shooting of the man.