LETTER: A question about police officer’s firearm use in Surrey
Published 11:00 am Monday, March 9, 2026
Editor,
In your article about the IIO investigation concerning the RCMP officer who discharged his weapon at the killer who threw a machete at the members attending the scene.
I have absolutely no issue with the outcome of the IIO’s decision.
What I do have concerns with is the accuracy of the officer who fired six rounds and only one struck the killer. As a retired law enforcement officer who is also a firearms instructor, we taught our officers to shoot with an accuracy of an eight-inch diameter when firing their weapon. This was to prevent collateral damage to bystanders. I do not know if the killer was standing outside, or at the centre of the doorway, but the officer should have been able to hit centre body mass.
With this in mind I would hope that the RCMP will send this officer to remedial training to improve his accuracy. We trained so that the instinct when having to fire a weapon creates an acceptable accuracy every time the weapon is fired.
Just my opinion as someone who taught firearms use.
Respectfully,
J. Lippold