Charges approved against man accused of ramming B.C. RCMP cruiser, injuring Mountie
Charges have been approved against a man accused of ramming his SUV into a police cruiser and injuring an officer at an RCMP detachment on Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
The man was shot by a Mountie in the parking lot of the North Cowichan-Duncan detachment and rushed to hospital, as was the injured officer. Both sustained non-life-threatening injuries and the officer has since been released from hospital, according to Island District RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Alex Bérubé.
Lunden Taylor Howard, born in 1994, is charged with assaulting a police officer with a weapon in connection with the incident at the police station on Canada Avenue in Duncan.
Howard is also charged with assault by choking and breach of recognizance in Esquimalt earlier that day.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) is still investigating what Insp. Chris Bear of the North Cowichan-Duncan RCMP called "a very disturbing incident" at the police station.
Witness video taken from an apartment building beside the station shows a man in a grey hooded sweatshirt standing next to a dark-coloured SUV that has crashed head-on into an RCMP cruiser, forcing the police vehicle into a ditch.
Two uniformed RCMP officers approach the man who appears to be accessing the rear passenger seat of the SUV.
One officer can be seen drawing his weapon as the man turns toward him. A single gunshot is heard and the man falls backward onto the ground.
"The main issue for us will be whether or not the officer who shot the civilian had reasonable, probable grounds to believe that there was a risk of grievous bodily harm or death to him or another individual," Ronald J. MacDonald, the IIO's chief civilian director, told CTV News after launching the investigation.
A man is accused of ramming his SUV into a police cruiser and injuring an officer before he was shot at an RCMP detachment on Vancouver Island on May 12, 2023. (CTV News)
It was the second police shooting in Duncan in just over six weeks after an RCMP officer shot a man who was driving a piece of heavy construction equipment through a residential neighbourhood at night.
Police said they received a report of an intoxicated man on a skid-steer loader around 9:15 p.m. on March 28. A slow chase ensued and the skid-steer collided with police vehicles before officers opened fire on the man, striking him twice in the head.
The man survived and is still recovering from serious injuries. The IIO is still investigating the incident.
"Across Canada, this has been an exceptionally difficult year for policing, with several officers killed in the line of duty," Mike Farnworth, B.C.'s minister of public safety and solicitor general, said in a statement Monday recognizing National Police Week.
"In our largest cities and smallest towns, in remote villages and Indigenous communities, we rely on police officers to prevent crime and violence, and protect people. Every day they selflessly and courageously uphold public safety, putting their lives at risk so the rest of us can live in peace and safety."
A date for Howard's first court appearance has not yet been set, according to the B.C. Prosecution Service.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.