Monday 2 March 2015

ASK QUESTIONS

This young man was clearly troubled at the time the pigs killed him. The family is right to ask if lethal force was necessary, or if something else could have been done. And would something else have been done if he came from a well known and wealthy family? Of course it would have. Fuck the police and their system.

Family still seeking answers in son’s shooting death by Transit Police in Surrey Safeway

BY CHERYL CHAN, THE PROVINCE MARCH 1, 2015

A vigil was held Saturday for Naverone Woods, a 23-year-old Gitxsan man shot by police in a Surrey Safeway store in December.

Photograph by: Vancouver Sun files , Facebook

A vigil was held Saturday for Naverone Woods, a 23-year-old Gitxsan man shot by police in a Surrey Safeway store in December.

Grieving family and friends gathered at Surrey Central SkyTrain station to remember Woods, described as a gentle soul with no history of mental illness. They also called on the Independent Investigations Office to provide answers on the police-involved fatal shooting.

“(Woods’) death at the hands of police was profoundly tragic. It was also incredibly troubling,” said the family in a statement.

Woods was shot by police on Dec. 28 in the Safeway store at 10355 King George Boulevard.

Police said Woods was seen inside the store shirtless and stabbing himself repeatedly with a knife. He ignored repeated instructions to drop the knife, advanced on officers, and was shot by a Transit Police officer, said police. He was taken to hospital where he died.

At the vigil, family members questioned the use of lethal force by police, saying officers could have used a Taser or batons. They also questioned whether racism played a role in the shooting.

The IIO is still investigating the incident.