So was this shooting in Tatlow, B.C. or on Tatlow Road in Smithers? The articles seem to give slightly different information.

the story says Tatlow rd in Smithers.. isn’t that good enough

Tatlow rd is hardy in the center of Smithers as stated. First rd after crossing the Bulkley river if travelling from the east.

Strange way to get a suspect out of a vehicle! What is wrong with ordering him out?

@billm: The other article on this site says the incident happened between Smithers and Houston, not "almost the centre of Smithers." There's a place called Tatlow between the two towns. The CBC report also states Tatlow, not Tatlow Road. I'm just equally as confused as the authors of the articles I guess. Is that a good enough answer for you?

@muckermike: My assumption would be "ordering him out" proved to be ineffective. The article above states, "While attempting to remove the driver of the truck the vehicle accelerated dragging the officer."

It blows my mind that people will question the integrity of a police officer and assume that the fellow driving the stolen vehicle has been wronged in some way.

rambleon: Thank you! Muckermike: READ THE ARTICLE! this clown wouldn't do as told. He was ordered out of a STOLEN vehicle. He did not comply. He tried to drive off. He started to drag the cop. The cops shoots. 4 rounds, 5, who cares. His life was in danger! Is that not enough reason. Why do they even need to investigate something like this? There were other cops at the scene apparently. did they not wittness this? or did they get there just after? The bottom line is this scum bag stole a vehicle and then didn't comply with the cops orders. What would have happened had this clown drove off and then ran over an innocent child or hit a dad driving his boy to hockey practice. Nobody seems to think of that. Just ohhhh that poor scumbag criminal. You know what? Screw him! Sick of these scumbag losers getting away with everything and then people feeling sorry for them. Just my opinion.

"It blows my mind that people will question the integrity of a police officer"

I would have agreed with you 20 and even 10 years ago. But not anymore.

Besides, integrity is not the question. Procedure is the question.

I posted a few YouTube videos of police being dragged by vehicles on the other thread about this. The last one looks to be part of a training film about positioning oneself when talking to or wanting to remove a driver from a vehicle.

You would make a good policeman Gary Long!!!!! The force needs people like you to uphold the law and teach people a few things!!!!

ATTENTION GARY LONG...im sorry to break it too you but sometimes the RCMP kill people by accident or bad judgement.If there wasnt an enquiry then all the bad police officers would just be killing suspects at will.and your " well there was 5 other officers there" why not take there statements well thats like saying some hells angel is in court for a self defense case and he uses 4 other members to testify..you get the pount yet

1 more thing gary long maybe one day down the road your kid or family member may get caught up in the life of crime and say he steals a vehicle and gets shot 4 times how would you feel them? or would your kid just be another scum bag out there stealing cars?

The point was not that you need never question the integrity of a police officer, rather it was that some people would rather trust the word of a felon it seems. My point would be that some folks have gotten so righteously worked up that they question every action of the police whether there is any evidence of wrongdoing or not. Wrapped in their flags of past 'wrongs'(decided in their own courts of public opinion of course) they presume to decree that 'the police can't be trusted' and other such definitives.
Sarcasm aside, Gary Long might not make a good cop, as i think most would agree. However, thats the point isnt it? The police have to deal with people you and I would not or could not deal with. On the whole they do so with great patience and forbearing. They cannot, and do not lose their cool as you or I would likely do. They also have to put their lives on the line in order to serve the law. In other words they believe in what they do. If they didnt care, they sure as hell wouldnt get attached to a vehicle in an effort to stop it.
One final note. Those of you who see this as a pointless exercise in police violence ought to remember the other side of the story. The fellow in this truck was no victim. He had broken the law and didnt care if he broke some more. Perhaps when his ilk show up on your door step you will take a new slant. We need protection from these people, period.
Oh wait! I did just think of a disclaimer: I do have experience with car thieves. One sold my friend a truck once. She lost the vehicle, got no compensation, worked for a year for NOTHING. There is a victim for you, not some stupid ass evading arrest. So you see, i do have a personal reason to support the RCMP.

Good post caranmacil. Right on the money.

"The fellow in this truck was no victim. He had broken the law and didnt care if he broke some more."

We do not know that, do we?

1. who made the call?
- The person who saw the truck being stolen from his driveway in Houston, or
- from the service station he was stopped at and left the key in while he went to get a pack of smokes?
- or the pissed off girl friend after they just had a spat?
- or someone pulling a prank?

2. why did the driver stop? .... what caused the driver to start up again after he had stopped? Was he spooked by the police who had approached with a drawn gun and his brain was telling him "oh shit .. here is one of those police that we have had in these small towns who might be trigger happy. People hang themselves in jail out of fear what will happen to them.

We all know diddley. I know one thing, I pride myself in having an open mind and being able to think things through, rightly or wrongly. I tend not to have knee jerk reactions and reach conclusions of an 1850's gun slinger in the mid west.

To me, whether the guy is a car thief or not, the police officer did not take the care he should have to prevent him from putting his own life in jeopardy and then the drivers life as well. The police officer was supposed to be in control and lost it primarily through his own actions from the information we have been provided. There was likely no hurry to get the fellow out of the car. He could have waited for the officers who were at the scene to assist him.

So he may have lost the driver. At worst it was a stolen vehicle. There are other ways to pick up a stolen vehicle and its occupant. Unless the guy was wearing a mask, the officer could ID him. In fact, I thought he had since it says somewhere that the driver was an American. From the drivers license or from the person who called in?

Isn't it fun to speculate on so little information? Especially for those who are oh so righteous.

Here are the words used by the Province newspaper:

"A 24-year-old man driving an ALLEGEDLY stolen truck is in hospital after being shot Saturday by Smithers RCMP."

Most people posting on this site do not understand the word "ALLEGEDLY".

For someone that says we know diddley, you sure do make some bold statements...

"To me, whether the guy is a car thief or not, the police officer did not take the care he should have to prevent him from putting his own life in jeopardy and then the drivers life as well."

How do you know this? Were you there?

From a paper local to Smithers, some more details and an interesting comment about the Canadian approach to law which seems to be foreign most of those posting here.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_north/interior-news/breaking_news/71103287.html

"Using the philosophy of guilty until proven innocent, then I would have agreed with you.

As we do not have the facts, only a police statement we can assume that it would be nuts to have an investigation into the shooting if you are right. What a waste of taxpayer’s money when you are already labeled guilty.

Having said that, I as are many others, very interested in hearing some more facts on this shooting.

Until then I do believe that we as Canadian Citizens are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty."

Glad to see that there are some rational people left in the North. But then, Smithers is known to have a higher percentage of rational people than the average community ..... :-)

"How do you know this? Were you there?

Simple.

Did he get caught when the guy drove away? Yes!

Should he have placed himself in a position so that he could have endangered his life by being dragged away? No!!

Geezzzzzz.... you would think some of you would have more street smarts!!!!

Queensland, in the land of OZ ....

Procedures when intercepting a vehicle:
------------------------------
PROCEDURE

Officers intending to intercept persons suspected of having committed an offence and who are in motor vehicles should ensure that:

(i) they do not unnecessarily expose themselves or any other persons, including the suspect, to danger; and

(ii) appropriate safety precautions are taken.

Upon observing a vehicle driven by or containing an offender/suspect, officers should:

(i) consider whether to stop the vehicle immediately or call for assistance. This consideration should include whether the vehicle is being driven in a manner dangerous to road users, the type of offence suspected of having been committed, the number of suspects in the vehicle and whether the officer attempting the interception is alone.

If the suspect's vehicle is being driven in a dangerous manner or the driver is suspected as being under the influence of liquor or a drug, then every effort should be made to stop the vehicle as soon as possible, bearing in mind the amount of traffic on the road at the time"

[url]
http://www.police.qld.gov.au/rti/published/policies/traffic-manual/03/Ch_03_PT2.htm[/url]

http://www.police.qld.gov.au/rti/published/policies/traffic-manual/03/Ch_03_PT2.htm

"How do you know this? Were you there?

"Simple. "

So I'll take that as a 'no'.

I think you've watched a few too many Youtube videos. Regardless of what you might think, it doesn't make you an expert by any means.

I dispute the idea that this fellow was ALLEGEDLY a criminal. He was technically a criminal the second he tried to speed off with the officer attached. That, coupled with the fact that he was driving an allegedly stolen truck should be enough to convince anyone he was a criminal and in my books at least worth apprehending. I dont think it is all that rational to compare the situation to an 1850's gunslinger something or other.
Lets stop making excuses for people. we all want the rule of law, but we all want exceptions. The police are supposed to catch the bad guys, but only if they give themselves up. Worse yet, the cops are not supposed to put themselves in a position where the criminal might be tempted to endanger officer (i use the term 'criminal ' here advisedly as refusing the demands of an officer is against the law). After all, isnt trying to arrest the guy just provoking him, in essence entrapping him into assault or even murder? Some seem to think so.
If my kids gets into a life of crime and endangers the life of a police officer who was trying to do his job, then I will have to live with the fact that me and my son were responsible for his getting shot. I am not such a hypocrite that i feel one way about the law for strangers and another for my loved ones. Nor am i up to demanding 'innocence until proven guilty' when dealing with criminals while casting suspicions on police officers without any evidence or expertise.

"Regardless of what you might think, it doesn't make you an expert by any means"

I think you have just described every single person on here - you and I included.

It took this long for you to figure that out? Sure not cop material are you?

Mr. PG .... you think the Queensland procedural guidelines are reasonable? You conveniently avoid those posts you have no rational, well thought out responses to.

Again I remind you gus... having the most posts doesn't strengthen your argument in any way.

I do not have the time or the inclination to answer every single one of your questions in your multitudes of lengthy posts, although I can see that you value my opinion.

Explain to me again why I should care about Queensland procedural guidelines in BC?

It is accurate to state that the general population, includung the 250 gang lack expertise on this (and virtually every other) subject. Given this fact, it would seem reasonable to be circumspect when criticizing peoples or organisations. If you dont know, it is not cowardly or sheep-like to defer to authorities on the subject. In this case those authorities/experts are the trained professionals we call the RCMP. For all those of you (us) who admit we dont know what we are talking about as far as arresting/detaining a suspect, why do we feel the need to criticize or second guess. Hell, we even go so far as to dispute the findings of the experts in charge of investigating use of force incidents. Does that sound like some people we all know?
As far as the whole procedure argument goes, Gus, are you suggesting there are no standard operating procedures in place for the RCMP? Do you know? Are you suggesting that the queensland ones are better? Are you suggesting that the RCMP abandon their manual and adopt queenslands? You see where i am going with this i think.
It seems to me that this is just another hot button issue that some folks are using to put forward their political views. If you want to slag the RCMP then i guess you will use any issue you can get your hands on (see the dawson creek vote story comment section). However, as you have admitted that you dont know what you are talking about perhaps you ought to refrain from attacking a police officers actions and credibility.
By the way, while it does seem like i have time to answer everyones posts, in truth i am hiding from various jobs i have to do in the snow....

Dear corruption: Mother, Father, brother or sister, does it matter. Not to me. Someone that steals cars and puts the lives of innocent people in danger is a scumbag. Bottom line. Get it? Or do you want to continue to be so PC and defend scumbag criminals, or as I like to call them, wastes of skin.

Good day.

Look, if you are a law abiding citizen and a police officer asks you to step out of the vehicle, you do not take off and drag said police officer on a road.

If you are a dumb ass you can disagree, but really common sense says the man you listen very carefully to the guy with the gun.

A good friend of mine is leaving tomorrow to attend the funeral of his nephew, an innocent 30 year old, driving towards Hinton, Alberta. He was hit head on by an individual driving a stolen mini-van! It started out as a police chase in Jasper apparently. The pursuit was called off, and Hinton RCMP were notified. Everything went horribly wrong after that, and the RCMP didn't fire one single shot! I really think we have to wait, before we pass judgement, until we hear all the facts.