VANCOUVER — British Columbia's police watchdog has cleared an officer in the shooting death of a fugitive gunman found in a remote cabin following a manhunt.
Peter DeGroot is not named in the report released today, but was identified in 2014 as the man who exchanged gunfire with police when Mounties responded to reports of a dispute between two people.
DeGroot fled into the woods, triggering an influx of officers, helicopters and search dogs in the Slocan area of southeastern British Columbia.
RCMP found him in a cabin four days later and he was shot and killed during what police called an "altercation."
The Independent Investigations Office report says the investigation was drawn out because of initial evidence that DeGroot had been shot in the back, which was later countered by pathologists' analysis.
The watchdog says there is not enough evidence to consider charges against the officer, whom it concludes did not use unreasonable force.
