No charges for Halifax police officer in 2020 shooting that left man wounded

Nova Scotia's police watchdog has determined a Halifax Regional Police officer acted lawfully, and that no charges are warranted, after a man was shot during an incident last year.

According to the Serious Incident Response Team's report, Halifax police responded on Aug. 25 to a report of a Ford truck stolen at a Kearney Lake gas station. The vehicle had a GPS device, allowing police to track it.

Shortly after the truck was stolen, a man saw the driver coming directly toward him in the wrong lane of a busy street. The man followed the truck and was able to get close enough to provide the police with a description.

The truck was tracked to Waterloo Street in the south end of Halifax about 20 minutes later. The driver had stopped to ask for directions.

Two police vehicles responded. One marked vehicle parked diagonally in front of the truck and another pulled in to block it from behind.

As an officer approached from the front, the driver of the truck put it in reverse and smashed into the police car behind it.

According to a witness, the driver sped forward in an attempt to get around the police car parked in front — heading straight for the police officer in the process. 

According to the report, the uniformed officer fired his gun toward the truck. 

When the driver was removed from the truck and arrested, police noticed he was wounded and he was taken to hospital. He was treated for a bullet wound and released into police custody the next day.

The SIRT report said the officer had the legal authority to arrest the suspect and was justified in using force, as the officer had "reasonable grounds" to believe it was "necessary for their self-preservation." 

The report concludes that the officer's actions were not excessive.

The driver of the truck was released on bail and did not attend a court date last October.