Two Vancouver Police Department (VPD) officers involved in the shooting of a carjacking suspect in November 2024 will not face criminal charges, the Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) said in a report published Friday.

Around 4 a.m. on Nov. 30, 2024, the VPD received a report of a BMW being stolen at knifepoint on Main Street, the IIO said in its report.

The BMW was spotted being driven at high speed in different areas of the city, the report said. Officers then found it parked at the side of a residential street and pulled an unmarked police vehicle “across in front of it,” the IIO says. Two officers in plain clothes got out of the vehicle.

“Shortly after they approached on foot, one on either side of the stolen vehicle, both officers discharged their duty firearms,” the report said.

A bullet from one of the officers struck and injured the suspect, who was treated in hospital for a gunshot wound to his upper right arm, the IIO says. Investigators later determined that a bullet fragment recovered from his wound came from the officer’s pistol. As well, the report notes, no weapon was found in the BMW.

The IIO determined the officers’ actions did not amount to criminal conduct. The case won’t be referred to the B.C. Prosecution Service for charges.

The IIO’s report says both officers made a number of errors during the incident. The errors included the officers disregarding an order to stop trying to apprehend the driver, approaching the vehicle on foot despite the risk that it could move, and failing to communicate with each other. The IIO also found that one officer inappropriately used his pistol to try to break the window, causing the accidental discharge that prompted his partner to fire.