Lethal force justified in shooting death of Surrey killer: report
Published 1:56 pm Thursday, March 5, 2026
Lethal force was justified in the shooting death of a Clayton Heights man in the summer of last year, according to a new report.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) released the report March 5 detailing a months-long investigation into the shooting death of the machete-wielding man who had just killed his wife.
IIO—B.C.’s police watchdog—found the officer, who fired on the man after he threw a machete at Mounties, did not “commit an offence” as lethal force was justified in that situation.
Members of the RCMP’s provincial squad were called to a house in Clayton in the late evening of July 7, 2025, after a 911 call from a tenant in a basement suite. The tenant reported a possible domestic assault at a home near the intersection of 194th Street and 66th Avenue.
According to the IIO report, the caller asked the police to “come urgently.” The person told 911 “he and family members had left the home, and through a window he had seen his upstairs neighbor, (the man who was later shot) hitting his wife.” The caller also told the dispatcher he saw blood on the woman’s clothes and thought the man had “hurt her badly.”
Five mounties went to the house. Shortly after they arrived, they found the man holding a machete and covered in blood.
According to the report, everything happened very quickly. An officer radioed, “making entry to clear.” This was followed by, “Code 4, man covered in blood … He’s got a knife we’re giving commands.” About 15 seconds after that a second officer radioed in, “Shots fired! Shots fired!”
The report noted when the Mounties first arrived, the man was spotted at the back door of the house covered in blood and holding a machete. Two officers tried to take the man down using a stun gun (conducted energy weapon). After that he threw the machete, overarm, in the direction of the police and that’s when one cop fired his pistol.
After the man had fallen down, police charged forward and found the man dead. He was lying beside his wife. The woman was already dead. Both were in their 60s.
“The (man) was found deceased inside the door, close to the body of his spouse, who had apparently been struck and killed by the (man’s) machete before police arrival,” the report revealed.
The report also noted that a forensic examination of the scene, including firearms and other items, revealed the officer had fired six rounds from his pistol with only one round striking the man and the other five bullets hitting the side of the doorway and the wall of the house.
After an autopsy, the man “was found to have suffered a single fatal bullet wound to the chest.”
Jessica Berglund, chief civilian director of the IIO, wrote that when the man appeared in the doorway, “blood-stained and armed with a potentially deadly weapon,” the risk to the police was elevated to the level of an imminent threat.
“It was appropriate, in those circumstances, when the (man) failed to comply with directions to drop the machete, to deploy non-lethal force against him” with the stun gun.
She added that when the man threw the machete at the RCMP officers, it could be interpreted as an attempt to cause them grievous bodily harm.
“At that point, it was reasonable for the (Mountie) to conclude that the use of lethal force was necessary in the officers’ defense, and the shots he discharged at the (man) were justified in law.”
Berglund concluded, “I do not consider that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an officer may have committed an offense under any enactment and the matter will not be referred to the B.C. prosecution service for consideration of charges.”
The full report can be found on the IIO’s website, iiobc.ca.