Police involved in fatal shooting incident at Nanaimo ferry terminal

by Doug Sarti on May 8th, 2018 at 1:46 PM

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Shots were fired earlier today at the Departure Bay ferry terminal in Nanaimo as police attempted to stop a suspected carjacker. One man has died as a result of the incident.

According to multiple accounts, police deployed a spike strip to slow a disembarking car, then surrounded the vehicle and rammed it with an Emergency Response Team truck. Officers then quickly approached and fired between five and eight shots into the vehicle’s windows.

In a media release, the BC RCMP stated "The vehicle was stopped by police and a take down was initiated as the male disembarked from the ferry. Initial information based on police accounts is that the male exited the vehicle, with what police believed was a firearm, and shots were fired resulting in the male sustaining serious injuries. The male later succumbed to his injuries.

Following the incident, one person was taken from the scene in an ambulance, and a large pool of blood could be seen on the pavement.

Agricultural Land Commission chair and former Saanich mayor Frank Leonard was in the ferry line-up during the time of the shooting, and tweeted photos of the aftermath.

The Independent Investigations Office—a civilian agency which scrutinizes all police-involved cases of death or serious injury—has reported that it has dispatched a team to Departure Bay to investigate.

After a 45-minute delay, ferries are reportedly now running close to their scheduled times.