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Vancouver police are not confirming anything at this time, but witnesses say police shot a man on Hastings Street.
Publication date:
July 30, 2022 • 10 minutes ago • Read 2 minutes • Join the conversation A man was shot in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in a shooting confirmed by authorities on Saturday, July 30, 2022. Photo: Trey Helten [PNG Merlin Archive] Photo by Trey Helten /jpg
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A man was shot in Vancouver’s downtown Eastside in what authorities confirmed was a police-involved shooting.
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Const. Tanya Visintin, a spokeswoman for Vancouver police, could not confirm details from an eyewitness who told Postmedia that a man hit a VPD car with a pole-like object before an officer fired his gun.
Visintin said all he could say was that they were dealing with an “unfolding situation” on Hastings Street.
“As soon as I have all the information, I will send something,” she said in an email early Saturday.
Jerrett Veinot, who lives on the Downtown Eastside, told Postmedia that after hearing a crash at Columbia and Hastings streets Saturday morning, they ran out to see what the commotion was about.
“I saw a man hit a police car, then he dropped what looked like a stick,” the 32-year-old described. “Two policemen got out of the car. One on the passenger side raised his gun and shot him twice in the chest.
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Another witness, Corwin Lumley, described the incident as terrifying. “The officer was aiming for his upper body,” he told Postmedia.
Security video of the incident — submitted anonymously to Postmedia — shows a police car chasing a man walking down Hastings Street before stopping and two officers getting out; one on both sides of the vehicle. The man is then seen running down the street past the officer on the passenger side of the car before facing them back and falling to the ground.
Photographs and videos shared on social media showed the man lying on the ground at the intersection and a number of police officers surrounding him.
Trey Helten, a local harm reduction worker who approached the scene after the shots were fired, yelled at officers gathered at the intersection, “Why did you shoot him?” He recorded his question to officers on his cell phone.
A plainclothes officer shouted back, saying it was because the man had stabbed someone.
There is no word yet on the man’s condition, although in a response on Twitter, the Vancouver Police Department said the “suspect” was not dead and was being treated for “non-life-threatening injuries.”
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Hastings between Main & Carrall and Columbia between Pender & Cordova are closed. Motorists are advised to avoid the area. #VPD is dealing with an unfolding police incident. There is no risk to public safety.
We will release more information as it becomes available. #VanTraffic pic.twitter.com/u7OsSg79ZX
— Vancouver Police (@VancouverPD) July 30, 2022
The Office of Independent Investigations was called in, confirming with Postmedia that it has “deployed investigators to a police-involved shooting in Vancouver.”
Police say there is no risk to public safety.
There is more…
— with files from Tiffany Crawford
ticrawford@postmedia.com
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