Saanich police cleared of wrongdoing after man shot by officer, bitten by police dog

British Columbia's police oversight agency has cleared two Saanich police officers of wrongdoing after one officer shot an armed man and the other turned his police dog on him during a traffic stop last year.

British Columbia's police oversight agency has cleared two Saanich police officers of wrongdoing after one officer shot an armed man and the other turned his police dog on him during a traffic stop last year.

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. found no grounds for charges against the officers Wednesday after an 11-month investigation heard evidence from 13 police witnesses, three paramedics and the suspect involved.

The IIO says the officers pulled the man over on the side of Highway 17 (Patricia Bay Highway) on the night of April 28, 2023. The agency says an altercation between the police and the driver escalated until the man exited his SUV holding a handgun.

Evidence from the police indicates the man refused to exit his vehicle before he pulled out the pistol and pointed it at his own head, prompting the responding officers to back away from the SUV and take cover.

Police closed down the highway in both directions and removed passersby from their vehicles as a safety precaution, according to the IIO report.

One of the officers took up a position across the highway and fired a single rifle shot that wounded the man in the lower abdomen, knocking him to the ground, according to the IIO report.

Police witnesses told investigators the man was still moving on the ground and tried to get up while his pistol was still within reach. The police dog handler told the man to move away from the gun before he deployed his dog, which bit the man and dragged him away from the weapon, which was found to be unloaded, according to the report.