Family of Winnipeg man shot by Vancouver police bean bags sues for his death (2024)

A Vancouver police officer who shot bean bag rounds at a man in 2022 used “excessive force,” causing the wrongful death of the father of six from Winnipeg, alleges a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court.

The family of Christopher (Chris) Amyotte, 42, filed the case against the officer, the VPD, the Vancouver police board, the city of Vancouver and B.C.’s attorney general and solicitor general.

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The lawsuit alleges Amyotte was shot in the back, spine and head by an officer named only as John Doe #1, at a distance of between 1.5 and five metres.

The force used “with repetitive bean bag rounds … was excessive, was negligent and the injuries resulting from being shot caused the death of Christopher Amyotte,” the lawsuit says.

The officer “who deployed the bean bags … at close range demonstrated conduct that fell below the standard required by society for the protection of others against unreasonable risk of harm,” it alleged.

Many officers arrived on the 300 block of East Hastings Street around 8 a.m. on Aug. 22, 2022, as Amyotte, who had just been hit with pepper spray and had removed his clothes, was pouring milk on his eyes and calling for help while walking on the sidewalk, according to the lawsuit.

The officers, especially John Doe #1, owed a duty of care to protect Amyotte from unlawful injuries causing death, it said.

It said he was “posing no threat to the officers” and their actions were against the Criminal Code. The officers had no “lawful or justifiable grounds to arrest” Amyotte, it said.

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Amyotte’s partner, Amanda Cook, and their six children, Marshall, 6, Karma, 7, Darrell, 11, Amanda, 13, Tyler, 22, and Venus, 24, are claiming damages for wrongful death, negligence, loss of inheritance, present and future earnings and loss of dependency, care, guidance, training and affection.

The officers, especially John Doe #1, were negligent because “another police officer would not use the same degree and extent of force to stop and arrest someone,” the lawsuit alleged.

The claim states that Amyotte had been pepper sprayed and was “physically unable to commit an offence” because he couldn’t see and he was calling for help.

The lawsuit also alleges the officers also breached a number of Amyotte’s Charter rights, including one that guarantees life, liberty and security of person.

His cousin, Samantha Wilson, told Postmedia at the time that Amyotte was in Vancouver to visit two of his children and extended family and she said the family had many questions, including why police had fired several rounds of bean bags and why police said he was “acting erratically.”

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She said the pepper spray, which happened indoors, wasn’t meant for him and he was on the street in pain, looking for help. He was trying to douse himself with water and was asking someone to call 911, according to what witnesses told the family.

She said six police cruisers arrived and that he was “non-compliant” when they told him to get on the ground but she said he couldn’t have complied because he needed help.

Amyotte was a member of the Rolling River Ojibwa First Nation in Manitoba. Wilson said.
He was devoted to his children and family and was the “jokester of the family, the cousin with no filter who came to every family dinner and bugged everyone,” she said.

At the time VPD confirmed police shot the man with a bean bag gun after officers attempted to speak with him.

The Independent Investigations Office, B.C.’s civilian-led police oversight agency, is investigating to determine what role, if any, police actions or inaction played in the man’s death. Spokeswoman Rebecca Whalen said on Thursday the investigation is continuing.

VPD spokeswoman Tania Visintin didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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