Friends identify man shot by Vancouver police

Last Updated: Friday, August 17, 2007 | 6:22 PM PT

CBC News

A group of friends who gathered at a makeshift memorial on Granville Street on Friday said their friend Paul Boyd was the 39-year-old man shot and killed by Vancouver police Monday night.

This comes as more witnesses are stepping forward with their version of events.

Friends of the man shot and killed by police gather on Friday at a memorial on Granville and 16th Avenue.
(Jeremy Nuttall/CBC)

The Vancouver department itself has not released the name of the man, who was shot after police allege he began assaulting officers responding to a 911 call with a potentially lethal weapon.

CBC News spoke to some of Boyd's friends who said he was a towering, jovial animator who worked for a company in Vancouver. Other friends who dropped off flowers at Granville Street and 16th Avenue said he was reclusive and was recently hospitalized and on medication.

Police are releasing few details about their investigation into the shooting. They have interviewed two dozen witnesses but expressed frustration about getting more to come forward.

Vancouver police maintain that the officer shot the man in self defence. They said earlier this week that the officer who fired the fatal shot has been on the force for three years.

Another witness steps forward

A witness who came forward on Friday told CBC News he thought police used unnecessary force.

Jonathan Menzies said he was in a stopped bus when the gunfire began. He compares the man's death to an execution, claiming he was on his knees when the last shots were fired.

"They had made a decision to kill this man and they shot him and shot him and shot him until he could not do anything at all," Menzies said.

Vancouver police spokesman Const. Howard Chow said on Friday people talking to the media about what they witnessed is challenging.

"It's frustrating sometimes when you see them interviewed for the first time on the nightly news or in the newspaper and they haven't been interviewed by investigators," Chow said.

Chow said witnesses should come to police first.

Menzies said he called police but has not heard back from them.

Another witness, Christine Adkins, told CBC News on Tuesday she did not see the alleged assaults but she saw the man attempting to flee when he was shot by police in the middle of traffic.