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Lawyer says RCMP cleared in car wash shooting

Independent report into shooting of Kayman Winter not yet released to the public.
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Jim Elliot/Salmon Arm Observer Investigators mark the location of spent bullet casings and gunshot marks on the vehicles involved in the Jan. 30 shooting at the Xcalibur car wash in Salmon Arm.

By Jessica Wallace, Kamloops This Week

A shooting victim’s lawyer says B.C.’s police watchdog is not recommending charges against the RCMP officer involved in a shooting in Salmon Arm last year.

“The case is done from the IIO’s (Independent Investigations Office of B.C.) perspective in the sense their mandate is to determine whether or not the police officers broke the law,” defence lawyer Matt Ford said.

“They have decided not to recommend charges against the officer.”

Ford is representing Kayman Winter, who survived after he was shot in the head almost on Jan. 30, 2017, by a mountie. Winter was allegedly breaking in to Xcalibur Car Wash in Salmon Arm.

The Crown alleges Winter used his pickup truck as a weapon when shots were fired, but the case has been under review by IIO, Ford earlier told Kamloops This Week the agency had seized a wide array of evidence following the shooting.

Ford said he and Crown prosecutor Carol Hawes have obtained copies of the 172-page report that has yet to be made public. He would not provide details as to what evidence led to the findings, noting a public report will be made available online in the coming weeks or months.

Winter is facing multiple charges related to the incident. His case will be back before the courts in Kamloops on Jan. 25, when he is expected to enter some guilty and some non-guilty pleas.