This photo shows Kamloops RCMP officers detaining Michael Shawn Boyer on Nov. 6, 2017 outside of a home on Fortune Drive.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ RCMP HANDOUT
February 20, 2018 - 2:25 PM
KAMLOOPS - B.C.'s police watchdog is clarifying that they're not investigating the Kamloops RCMP detachment for an alleged shooting incident last November.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. says in a news release today, Feb. 20, that there was a media report yesterday which suggested that the office was investigating Kamloops RCMP in relation to shots fired by an RCMP officer at Michael Shawn Boyer outside of the Tournament Inn in east Kamloops on Nov. 4.
"This information was incorrect," the news release states.
According to court documents and the Independent Investigations Office, Boyer entered a guilty plea yesterday in Kamloops Provincial Court in relation to the matter. He was sentenced to two years behind bars, minus time served, on charges of carrying a weapon and using an imitation firearm in the commission of an offence.
The incident outside of the Tournament Inn led to a two-day manhunt by the Kamloops RCMP, who said an officer had shot at Boyer before he fled, but didn't disclose he had been shot.
The Independent Investigations Office says in its release that the facts laid out in court yesterday made it clear that Boyer did not suffer "any serious injury" during the incident.
The mandate of the police watchdog is to investigate officer-involved incidents causing serious harm or death to a member of the public. Since there was no serious injury, the release states that the detachment was not required to contact the investigations office about the matter.
According to the release, a spokesperson for the office was quoted as saying that in less serious cases, the office is still notified, which may have suggested the RCMP were obligated to alert the Independent Investigations Office.
"The (Independent Investigations Office) wishes to confirm that the RCMP had no obligation to report this matter as this was not a matter that involved serious injury or death, which defines the... mandate," the release states. "The Chief Civilian Director of the (office) was in contact with the RCMP today to confirm this position."
For more coverage on Boyer, go here.
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