Mounties won't face charges in killing of Indigenous man
No charges have been approved against three RCMP officers in the shooting death nearly three years ago of Jared Lowndes, a man from the Wet'suwe'ten First Nation in northwest B.C.
The B.C. Prosecution Service made the announcement Tuesday after reviewing an investigation by the province's Independent Investigations Office into the deadly shooting that took place at a Tim Hortons in Campbell River.
The IIO determined there were reasonable grounds to believe the officers may have committed offences, but the prosecution service concluded the available evidence does not meet their assessment standard for charges.
During the incident, the RCMP put a police dog into Lowndes' vehicle after he pepper sprayed several officers. Lowndes stabbed and killed the dog with a large knife, refused commands to give up, and had the knife in his hands when he got out of the vehicle and was shot by police, according to a statement from the prosecution service.
“The (B.C. Prosecution Service) is not able to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the officers committed any offence in relation to the incident,” said the statement.
The decision not to lay charges comes just two weeks after the prosecution service stayed manslaughter charges against two RCMP officers in the 2017 killing in Prince George of Dale Culver, an Indigenous man from the Wet'suwet'en and Gitxsan nations in northern B.C.
Lowndes also had connections to the Xwemalhkwu First Nation on Vancouver Island through his daughters.
Both cases have gained considerable attention with family, First Nation leaders and civil rights advocates criticizing police use of force and de-escalation techniques.
In cases where the service decides not to lay charges against officers, the reasons are detailed in a statement.
The prosecution service's 11page statement says that Lowndes was stopped at about 5:30 a.m. on July 8, 2021 by an RCMP officer who'd found that Lowndes was the subject of an arrest warrant for allegedly breaching a court order.
As the officer approached the driver's window of the Audi, Lowndes quickly reversed his car, hit the police vehicle and sped off.
Officers later spotted and caught up with Lowndes at a drive-thru of a Tim Hortons, where the officers attempted to pin his car in place.
Lowndes was able to quickly reverse out of the drive-thru and hit another vehicle while trying to get out of the lot. When Lowndes attempted to drive back through the drive-thru lane, he was blocked by police vehicles. Several officers approached Lowndes with guns drawn, loudly instructing him to show his hands, according to the statement.
As an officer approached the Audi, Lowndes sprayed a large amount of bear spray at several officers and forced them to retreat. Lowndes attempted to escape with his car, but was unable to.
One of the officers then lifted a police dog and put him into the Audi through the open driver's side window. Lowndes used a large knife to stab the dog and killed it. The officer reached his hand into the vehicle and was stabbed.
Officers shouted commands and used a Taser twice, but Lowndes used the knife to cut away the Taser wires.
Lowndes continued to yell “shoot me, kill me” as he stepped out of the car.
He had one foot on the ground and was still holding the knife when shots were fired almost simultaneously by two officers, according to the statement.
One officer shot Lowndes twice in the back and the other officer's shot missed.
At the same time, another officer drove straight into the side of the car, likely running over Lowndes, who was on the ground.
The prosecution service said it considered whether the actions of the police officers needlessly contributed to a dangerous situation that impacted the reasonableness of the deployment of lethal force.
“There is no evidence that the police failed to follow their training in conducting the traffic stop the way they did, in closing in on the vehicle to make the arrest, or any other aspect of their response. There is also nothing to suggest foreseeability that their decision making would have led to the tragic consequences that occurred,” according to the statement.