New video shows Vancouver Police shooting injured, unarmed man in the head

[Flash Walken]

I cautioned against the term execution, as it doesn't appear in the article, but for my money, that's what it is.

New video of a fatal shooting by a Vancouver police officer nearly five years ago is provoking calls to reopen the investigation into whether it was justified.

The video shows the last moments of Paul Boyd, a 39-year-old mentally ill animator, who died after an altercation with Vancouver police in August 2007.

Boyd can be seen on his hands and knees on Granville Street, moving toward Const. Lee Chipperfield, who is pointing a gun.

The view is briefly obscured when Boyd crawls in front of a car, and Chipperfield fires the last of nine shots at him. The fatal bullet struck Boyd in the head.

The disturbing video is the only one known to be recorded of the incident.

It was captured by Andreas Bergen, a tourist from Winnipeg, who was visiting Vancouver with friends. At the time, Bergen didn't think his shaky, dimly lit video was valuable because there were dozens of witnesses closer to the scene than he was.

But in March of this year, B.C.'s police complaint commissioner issued a report, concluding there wasn't "clear, convincing and cogent evidence … that Chipperfield used unnecessary force or excessive force during his incident."

"I think that's the question people should be asking themselves when they look at this video and see a man who's disarmed, crawling on the road," Eby said after viewing the sequence.

There is a lull of 23 seconds between the eighth and ninth shots, during which time another officer managed to grab the bike chain Boyd had been wielding.

B.C.'s Criminal Justice Branch said after Boyd was killed, a pair of Vise-Grip pliers was found in his pocket.

But Eby said the video makes it clear to him that Boyd posed no threat to anyone before the final shot.

"I say a police officer needs to look at a scenario where someone is disarmed and crawling on the road, and say, 'I'm not gonna shoot this person in the head.' I would like them to make that call."

Eby wants B.C. police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe to take another look at the case.

Lowe told CBC News that the video "appears to be a very important piece of evidence … I think probably the Criminal Justice Branch would be very interested in having a view."

The Vancouver Police Department turned down an invitation to see the video and declined to comment on whether it's significant.

I could have sworn there was discussion of this on here when it happened, but I can't seem to locate it.

Haven't seen the video, the description is disgusting.

Originally Posted by chemgear

Video and news article here:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...-crawling.html

[HOOT]

They unarmed man in the head? Sounds horrible!

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by HOOT

They unarmed man in the head? Sounds horrible!

I'm sure an investigation will state that they only accidentally an unarmed man in the head.

[NuclearPizzaMan]

Finish Him!!!

Fatality!

[Senator Clay Davis]

Cops sure do make it really easy to hate them.

[chemgear]

Video and news article here:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...-crawling.html

[Lt.Spears]

Sort of torn on this one.

One one hand i dont think it was ok for the Cop to shoot him when he had other means to take him down.

On the other hand, i cant imagine being in the officers shoes, having shot someone and then them rising to come back at you after pleading for him not to. Cannot be easy to make that decision.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Cops sure do make it really easy to hate them.

this seems a little premature

[Senator Clay Davis]

Unless this guy had an actually firearm, which he didn't, then these cops did what most cops do: Shoot first, questions later. If a cop, and in this case multiple cops, can't subdue a suspect with tasers, nightsticks, mace, and after having shot a suspect multiple times, and feel the need to finish the job (likely because that way the suspect can't do anything to tesitfy after the fact), then I'm curious whats likeable or noble in that?

[The Yen Man]

This is one of those situations where a taser probably would have been better. Sometimes when a person is shot, they're so jacked up on adrenaline or whatever drug they took, they don't even realize it. An appropriate taser shot would have put the guy down properly.

[HPLovecraft]

Nine shots. Isn't that many shots fired into someone usually considered a crime of passion?

[freedogger]

Nine shots? Took a head shot to finish him? Must have been a zomby!

[Zevo]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Cops sure do make it really easy to hate them.

Only if you're already leaning that way.

[jayswin]

I'm always amazed at what some people will defend and justify in their minds when a police oifficer goes too far. It's baffling...and this is coming from a guy who has a of respect for police.

[mikey_the_redneck]

There is absolutely no justification for fatally shooting someone who is un-armed, crawling on all fours, posing no threat to anybody.

Hang the thug cop on a lamp post.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by flameswin

I'm always amazed at what some people will defend and justify in their minds when a police oifficer goes too far. It's baffling...and this is coming from a guy who has a of respect for police.

I look at it the same way Lt. Spears is. It is easy to sit back and judge the situation dispassionately after the fact and find fault. But that is not a fair representation of the situation, is it?

The incident has escalated to a point where non-lethal force already failed, and the cop feels like he needs to use lethal force to defend himself. He's in a "me or him" state already, and when the suspect continues to come toward you after you've already shot him, I can understand why the final shot is fired. Personally, I can't condemn the cop on the final shot alone. It is the entire situation that has to be judged, including both the cop's AND the suspect's actions that led to this point.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Yes its a fair representation. There were multiple officers there, the suspect was unarmed, the officer was told not to shoot the suspect again before he fired the fatal shot. This was murder, and the fact he has a badge means he's almost certainly going to walk.

[Resolute 14]

The fact that he was attacked means he's almost certainly going to walk.

[Zevo]

Originally Posted by flameswin

I'm always amazed at what some people will defend and justify in their minds when a police oifficer goes too far. It's baffling...and this is coming from a guy who has a of respect for police.

I'm equally amazed at how people can vilify all cops because of the actions of one cop.

Not aimed at you flameswin.

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

The incident has escalated to a point where non-lethal force already failed, and the cop feels like he needs to use lethal force to defend himself.

He may feel he needs to at that point (though with the suspect crawling on the ground, that is obviously debatable), but what he feels he needs to do is and should be considered separately from what he actually does need to do.