man shot and killed by police at westview shopping centre in north vancouver
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a scene of chaos unfolded at a busy north vancouver shopping plaza on tuesday afternoon, ending with a crashed truck and one man dead after being shot by police.
witnesses were left shaken, describing a terrifying chain of events that started inside a mcdonald’s when a woman was threatened with a knife, and continued at an esso gas station where a man tried to douse himself with gasoline.
just after 1 p.m., officers were called to the westview shopping centre in the 2600-block of westview drive where a man with an edged weapon was reportedly threatening members of the public inside a business, the rcmp said in a news release.
“the suspect subsequently exited the business, entered a vehicle in the parking lot, then collided with multiple parked vehicles,” police said.
according to the rcmp, the suspect got out of the vehicle at a gas station in the same plaza. police arrived and approached the suspect. the man then got into the driver’s seat of an unoccupied police vehicle. police fired a taser-like weapon, followed by three gunshots.
the suspect was taken to hospital where he later died.
the incident is now being probed by the independent investigations office of b.c. the office is deployed when there has been a death or serious harm that may have been caused by police officers.
an esso station at 2501 westview drive in north vancouver was behind police tape on tuesday afternoon
nick procaylo
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arman abadi, who detailed the ordeal on his instagram account, said he was in the area to buy pokemon cards and was stopping for an ice tea when he was confronted by the dramatic scene at the mcdonald’s.
abadi said the suspect had a knife to a woman’s throat inside the restaurant and was “freaking the f–k out.” so when the suspect walked near him, abadi wrestled the knife away from the suspect.
“after taking his knife, i press him against the wall, and he says he has another knife and to let him go,” abadi shared. “i’m like, ‘i’m not letting you go if you have another knife?'”
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the suspect managed to escape abadi’s hold and fled the mcdonald’s before getting into a nearby truck.
owner bahman afshari was working alone at the neighbouring westview fresh pizza when he saw people outside, running to and from the mcdonald’s.
when he exited his shop to see what was happening, he saw someone in the driver’s seat of a truck in the parking lot, waving a yellow box cutter knife out the window and yelling at another man who appeared to be the truck’s owner.
afshari said he watched the suspect inside the truck try to ram the man unsuccessfully.
“he tried to drive away, but then he crashed it. he hit another car,” afshari told postmedia on wednesday, describing how the suspect then exited near an esso station and walked toward another car parked at a gas pump before getting in.
the owner of that vehicle then confronted the suspect and forced him away from the vehicle.
footage filmed by afshari and shared with postmedia shows the suspect making his way around to another gas pump where he picked up a pump and pointed the nozzle at himself.
“he tried to put the gasoline on himself,” said afshari.
afshari said when the pump didn’t dispense any gasoline, the suspect made his way toward a third car, just as police arrived. the man sat in the driver’s seat of the third vehicle briefly before exiting again.
“one cop car blocked the front of the gas station, and other cop cars blocked the back of the gas station,” said afshari.
as police screamed at the man to “get on the f–king ground” and “drop the knife,” the video shows the suspect taking a drink from a bottle as he walks toward a police cruiser and opens the driver’s door.
a taser-like weapon is fired at the man unsuccessfully as he climbs into the cruiser. footage then shows police rushing toward the door of the cruiser and jamming it open as the man waves a box cutter.
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an officer then draws a gun at the man and three shots can be heard being fired. the suspect does not appear to move or respond to commands.
“out of the area, now. back up,” another officer can be heard yelling to bystanders.
“drop the knife, now,” yells another officer.
an officer can be seen preparing another conducted energy weapon and firing a second shot successfully at the suspect. the officer then approaches the man and pulls him out of the car, placing him face-down on the ground while ripping the box cutter out of his hand and cuffing him.
afshari said he counted about 10 police cars at the scene, and just over a dozen officers engaged in either dealing with the suspect or keeping bystanders out of the way.
following the incident, the area was cordoned off as the investigation gradually grew until the entire shopping plaza was closed at around 1:30 p.m., said afshari, who shut down his shop and went home for the rest of the day.
the plaza was reopened at around 9:45 p.m.
afshari said the incident unfolded so quickly that he was unable to do anything other than film the incident with his phone. many of the viral clips of the shooting being circulated online are snippets pulled from afshari’s original video, which he has since shared with police and various media outlets.
with files from david carrigg and joe ruttle
an esso station at 2501 westview drive in north vancouver was behind police tape on tuesday afternoon.
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