IIO refers fatal 2023 Revelstoke RCMP shooting to Crown for consideration of charges

CTV News

3 days ago

The older sister of the man shot to death by police in Revelstoke, B.C., in August 2023 has identified him as Garry Pashe Jr., a 23-year-old father of two from Manitoba. (Mellisa Pashe)
The office that investigates the use of force by police officers in B.C. has referred the case of a man shot by Mounties in Revelstoke in 2023 to the provincial prosecution service.
The referral stems from an incident that occurred shortly before midnight on Aug. 27, 2023, according to a statement issued by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. on Tuesday.
At that time, Revelstoke RCMP responded to a call about a stolen vehicle, and an officer located the vehicle in question on Victoria Road East, the IIO said.
'There was an interaction, and shots were fired by police,' the agency's statement reads. 'Emergency Health Services (EHS) attended, but the man who had been driving the stolen vehicle was later pronounced deceased.'
The IIO investigated the incident, and chief civilian director Jessica Berglund determined that 'reasonable grounds exist to believe that one officer may have committed offences in relation to the use of force.'
Berglund has now referred the matter to the B.C. Prosecution Service, which will determine whether the officer should be charged.
In making its decision, the BCPS will consider whether there is a substantial likelihood of conviction and whether prosecuting the officer would be in the public interest.
The IIO said it would not be making any additional comment about the facts of the case while prosecutors are deliberating.
'Whatever happened is not right'
While authorities shared little information about the case on Tuesday, statements from the time of the incident shed a bit more light on the situation.
In its statement days after the shooting, the B.C. RCMP alleged that there had been contact between the stolen vehicle and a police vehicle. It also said that the driver of the stolen vehicle had gotten out, led officers on 'a brief foot chase,' and then entered the police vehicle.
Police said one officer fired at the man, striking him. He was taken to hospital, where he died from his injuries.
In the weeks after the incident, CTV News was contacted by the sister of the deceased man, who identified him as Garry Pashe Jr., a 23-year-old father of two from Manitoba.
Mellisa Pashe described her youngest brother as a 'happy kid' who had come to B.C. to help a cousin move and was trying to get home in time for his son's first birthday.
Pashe said she thinks he messaged her on the day before his death because he was looking for financial assistance to help him get back to Manitoba.
She said she thinks that's also why he stole the car, but whatever the reason for his encounter with police that night, she's convinced it shouldn't have ended the way it did.
'It's not right,' she said. 'Whatever happened is not right.'
She said her brother 'wasn't a violent person' and 'never had weapons on him.'
'They could've Tased him,' she said. 'They could've used any other kind of force other than shooting him … He was a big kid, but I think he was more scared than anything. For them to pull a gun out on him, I can just imagine his fears.'