Didn't know shot man disarmed, officer says

With the dead man's family looking on, Const. Lee Chipperfield told his version of events Wednesday at the coroner's inquest into the death of Vancouver animator Paul Boyd, who suffered from bipolar disorder.

After he arrived at the scene of a reported assault on Granville Street near West 15th Avenue on Aug. 13, 2007, Chipperfield said he saw another officer go down as a man came at him swinging a bicycle chain with a padlock on the end of it.

'It was clear my son was shot in the head when he was on his hands and knees.' —Paul Boyd's father, David Boyd

The man was out of control, growling and snarling, and that's when Chipperfield said he drew his gun and fired at the man.

No charges

Chipperfield's partner, Const. Mark Baird, has testified that after the fourth shot, he yelled, 'Hold your fire,' and went in to disarm Boyd, successfully flinging the chain away.

But Chipperfield said that in the heat of the moment, tunnel vision took over and he neither heard his partner nor saw him disarm Boyd.

That may be what the officer believes, but that's not what most of the other witnesses saw, said the dead man's father, David Boyd.

"[The witnesses] had no axe to grind. They had nothing to defend," said Boyd. "It was clear my son was shot in the head when he was on his hands and knees."

Chipperfield said he fired a shot at Boyd's head when he failed to see any blood from the previous shots and thought Boyd was wearing body armour.

He said he was not armed with a Taser at the time.

He also told the family at the inquest he was deeply sorry for what happened and had no idea Boyd might have been in the midst of a psychotic epsiode.

A police investigation concluded in 2009 that Chipperfield would not face charges in connection with the shooting.