An agitated man shot dead by RCMP in Vernon, B.C., on Thursday was initially hit by a Taser after he refused to drop the knife he was holding, a senior police officer says.

RCMP District Cmdr. Don Harrison spoke to reporters Friday about the events that led to the death of Chris Klim in Vernon, B.C.
(CBC)

RCMP District Cmdr. Don Harrison told reporters Friday that the man died after police arrived at a Vernon apartment building on the 3800 block of 27th Avenue with a warrant issued under the Canadian Mental Health Act.

The victim was 23-year-old Chris Klim, the CBC has learned.

Harrison said the officers initially tried to contact Klim by phone, and could hear the phone in his apartment ringing through a closed door, but no one answered.

Police reacted by forcing open the door and confronting Klim, who, according to Harrison, was wielding a knife.

At this Vernon, B.C., apartment building, Chris Klim was shot by an RCMP officer on Thursday after police arrived holding a warrant issued under the Canadian Mental Health Act.
(CHBC News)

When he refused to drop the knife, police used a Taser to try to subdue him.

But when that didn't work, and Klim continued to wield the knife, he was shot twice, Harrison said.

Regional coroner Tonia Grace has ordered an autopsy.

The Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP will also investigate the incident.

Harrison said seven police officers, including the detachment commander, were involved in the confrontation. But none was hurt.

Seniors mostly in building

An elderly resident told CBC that the apartment building was occupied mainly by senior citizens.

He said he heard loud banging noises outside his apartment at around midday Thursday, but for his own safety decided not to get involved.

The elderly resident said the apartment was occupied by a man named "Chris,'' who he understood to be "a fairly decent guy.''

Keith Brumwell, a former RCMP trainer who now works for the Canadian Metal Health Association, said police officers typically receive half a day of mental health training at the national RCMP academy in Regina.

"That's really insufficient in a six-month training program,'' he said.

"You know from going to school or university, if you have a lecture one afternoon, how much of that are you going to retain?"

In British Columbia, police officers take an additional five-day course at the Pacific Region Training Centre.

RCMP Const. Steve Hiscoe, an instructor at the centre, said that while lessons don't specifically focus on mental-health issues, officers are taught to recognize the symptoms of mental distress.

However, if somebody comes at police with a weapon, they have to react, he added.

 

With files from the Canadian Press