Man killed in police shooting on Downtown Eastside
Posted January 5, 2021 11:41 am.
Last Updated January 6, 2021 3:10 am.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A 37-year-old man was shot dead by police on the Downtown Eastside Tuesday morning after officers were called about a man throwing things from a window and chasing people with a weapon.
According to a release from the Vancouver Police Department, officers were called to the area of Princess Avenue and Hastings Street shortly before 5 a.m to an armed man acting “erratic and aggressive.”
He was apparently smashing a window to his room and throwing large wooden objects onto the street, which had hurt him during the process, police say.
UPDATE: #VPD say a 37-year-old man is dead after being shot by officers on the DTES. They say the man had apparently smashed the window to his room in a residential building at Hastings/Princess and was throwing large wooden objects out of the window onto the street. 1/2 https://t.co/c5GCaxubyL
— Sonia Aslam (@SoniaSAslam) January 5, 2021
Before officers got to the area, the man left his home and was in the street with the weapon, says Const. Tania Visintin.
“Reports came in that this man was chasing people with the weapon and using it in an aggressive and threatening manner,” she says.
“The man was subsequently shot by police.”
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO), the province’s police watchdog, will be investigating as they do in any police encounter that results in death or serious harm.
A 37-year-old man was shot dead by police on the Downtown Eastside Tuesday morning after officers were called about a man throwing things from a window and chasing people with a weapon. https://t.co/pBsyTbJ1Br pic.twitter.com/o5dkronx4I
— CityNews 1130 Vancouver (Inactive) (@news1130) January 6, 2021
Anyone with information is asked to contact IIO investigators at 1-855-446-8477.
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner is also conducting its own, separate investigation as it does anytime there is serious harm or death from a municipal force.
The intersection has been closed and will stay that way for most of the day.
10:30 – #Vancouver @VancouverPD continue to investigate an early morning incident in the Downtown Eastside. Traffic on East Hastings is still shutdown from Heatley to Jackson Ave until further notice. Use Powell St to avoid this @NEWS1130 @JACK969van pic.twitter.com/uLuJFYO4Ai
— Ryan Lidemark ???? ????️ (@RyanLmark) January 5, 2021
