A Kelowna, B.C., RCMP officer who was caught on video kicking a suspect in the face has been suspended with pay.

Const. Geoff Mantler had already been limited to administrative duties after he was accused of using excessive force during the arrest of a man in Kelowna on Friday.

The incident happened late last week after police received a call about shots fired near the Harvest Golf Club.

Police apprehended the suspected shooter, Buddy Tavares, on a Kelowna street.

A freelance reporter who observed the arrest began video-recording events as police converged on Tavares, guns drawn.

Tavares, 51, is seen getting out of his truck and, on police orders, falling to his hands and knees.

Next, the RCMP officer kicked Tavares in the face.

Moments later, the video shows the handcuffed Tavares lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

Tavares is said to be recovering from a brain injury suffered in a motorcycle accident last year.

He works at the Harvest Golf Club but was on disability leave at the time of his arrest. It’s his job to scare birds away from the course with his shotgun, and he has a permit to fire the gun for that purpose, police said.

Tavares has been charged with careless use of a firearm. Police said the charge is connected with a domestic violence situation. Tavares has no criminal record.

Tavares's sister, Angela Behiels, said Tavares spent the weekend in RCMP holding cells by his own choice.

He left the jail Monday night and said he had not seen the video of the incident that led to his facial injuries and Mantler's suspension.

"I did see the front of the newspapers, a couple of newspaper pictures," said Tavares. "That was quite nasty."

Buddy Tavares left the Kelowna jail Monday night and spoke briefly to reporters. (CBC)Tavares had a blackened left eye and some facial cuts.

He did not respond when asked why he was shooting at the golf club on Friday. A woman with him said that was part of the investigation and he could not comment.

Although he had a permit to scare off geese with the weapon, the golf club is under snow and no one was playing the course.

Tavares's presence at the club was reported to police by an employee.

A criminal investigation of Mantler's actions and an internal RCMP code of conduct inquiry also are underway

Mantler joined the Kelowna detachment in July 2007 immediately after graduating from the force's training academy.