A police officer who shot and killed a Calgary man wielding a knife took appropriate action, a provincial fatality inquiry concluded Wednesday.

In January 2005, Const. Ian Vernon killed Harjinder Singh Cheema, 30, with a single bullet after Cheema repeatedly stabbed his wife and mother-in-law.

Two hours after police arrived on the scene, Cheema came out of the family's southeast Calgary home, barefoot and covered in blood. He approached police with a large kitchen knife and refused to drop the weapon.

Officers testified at the public inquiry that using a baton or pepper spray were not options because Cheema was armed with a deadly weapon. Police on the scene were also not equipped with Taser stun guns, which temporarily paralyze a suspect.

Vernon, a dog handler, fired the shot into Cheema's chest from about three to 3.5 metres away as the man stepped in his direction.

Inquiry judge recommends 'non-lethal' weapon

The fatality inquiry looked at whether other options were available to police and what can be done to prevent a similar death.

In a report released Wednesday, Judge Sandra A. Hamilton recommended that police consider equipping every patrol car with a weapon that fires a "bean-bag round" to disarm suspects without deadly consequences.

The RCMP emergency response team is equipped with bean-bag guns, but the Calgary police no longer use them because of accuracy issues.

"People have died as a result of the deployment of virtually every 'less than lethal' option," said Calgary police Insp. Barry Clark Wednesday, adding the force prefers to use Tasers and plastic bullets.

Hamilton concluded shooting Cheema was an appropriate response, and  that Vernon was "following tested, approved police procedures and acting in accordance with his training in dealing with an armed and potentially dangerous assailant."

History of domestic abuse

Cheema's now ex-wife, Kuldeep Sandhu, testified she filed for divorce in the same month as the incident after Cheema got drunk and threatened to kill their two-year-old daughter. The divorce went through after his death.

On the day of the shooting, Cheema stabbed Sandhu 32 times in the head and torso. Her mother suffered deep slash wounds to her hands.

Both women recovered from their physical injuries, the report said, but remain emotionally traumatized.

A criminal charge of domestic violence in 2004 resulted in a peace bond that required Cheema to abstain from alcohol and from owning or carrying a weapon. But Sandhu's request that the court forbid her husband from having contact with her was not included in the order.

Judge recommends better communication

Hamilton, who sits frequently in the Calgary domestic violence court, recommended that frontline workers and prosecutors tell a judge the reasons for a "no-contact provision" request.

She also asked that independent translators be provided to people with English-language difficulties so they'd fully understand court proceedings and orders.

A public fatality inquiry can only make recommendations to prevent similar incidents but cannot rule on legal responsibility.

A separate review by a Crown prosecutor after the shooting determined Vernon's actions were justified and that no criminal charges were warranted in the case.