Police shoot and kill alleged carjacker at Departure Bay ferry terminal

May 8, 2018 | 3:53 PM

NANAIMO — Police confirmed officers shot and killed a suspect during an arrest attempt at the Departure Bay ferry terminal Tuesday morning. 

BC RCMP said they were trying to arrest a man allegedly involved in an earlier violent carjacking in southwest B.C. The car was tracked onto the ferry and police attempted a takedown once it was off the ferry.

In a release, police say the suspect “exited the vehicle, with what police believed was a firearm and shots were fired resulting in the male sustaining serious injuries.”

The man later died of his gunshot wounds. 

No officers were harmed.

Witness John Athey told NanaimoNewsNOW the takedown and shooting was “just like a movie.”

“I saw police smash the car and turn it around. They jumped out and shot into the driver’s side window,” Athey said. “When the police jumped out of their car they ran right up close and fired into the window…I could actually see the glass coming off the window, it was unbelievable.”

Athey said based on the way officers reacted, he believed a shot was fired at them. He said he heard about six-to-eight shots fired by Mounties.

Madison Lee was sitting in her car at the terminal to pick up an aunt when she heard a bang and saw smoke beside her. She said her first thought was a car accident had happened, until she said she heard roughly seven gunshots.

“It was really surreal,” she said. “I didn’t think it was real and assumed it was a car accident….It’s crazy to realize it was gunshots only a few metres away from me.”

Ferry operations resumed as normal shortly after the incident, with the 10:40 sailing leaving Nanaimo about 30 minutes late.

The Independent Investigations Office was called to the scene. They investigate all officer-involved incidents that result in death or serious harm.

— with files from Ian Holmes