VPD officer had no option but to shoot man in Vancouver 7-Eleven stabbing: IIO report

British Columbia’s police watchdog says an officer was justified and “bound by his duty” when he shot and killed a man armed with a knife who stabbed an employee at a Vancouver convenience store last December.

A report from the Independent Investigations Office says another officer first tried to subdue the man using a stun gun while the attacker had two staff members trapped behind the counter of the 7-Eleven store on the corner of Robson and Hamilton streets.

When that didn’t work, the report says, the second officer fired four shots at the man, who then made “stabbing motions” at the staff members, and five more rounds were fired. 

The report says one of the staff members was struck in the face by a bullet fragment, injuring her left eye and requiring surgery, while the other was treated for knife wounds to her head, back, and thumb.

The report says officers were first called to the convenience store on Dec. 4 when staff complained about a man who had come into the store several times asking for free cigarettes.

It says the man went into a nearby restaurant, stole liquor and two knives, before going back to the store and trapping the employees behind the counter, threatening and assaulting them with the knives.

Video filmed by a passerby captured the shooting.

The report says the man’s actions “clearly presented a threat of death or grievous bodily harm to (the employees), and the (officer) was justified — and in fact bound by his duty as a police officer — to use all necessary force to protect them from it.”

It says that when the other officer’s stun gun failed and the man with the knife “turned back to the two store employees to attack them with a knife, it was reasonable for the (officer) to conclude that there was no viable option but to use lethal force against him.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2025.