A case of self defense

A crown counsel investigation into the shooting of Houston resident Ian Bush, has decided that no charges will be laid against the RCMP officer that shot Bush while in custody at the Houston detachment. Stating that the available evidence did not support charging the officer involved in the shooting.

The case has become one of those issues that communities sometimes have thrust upon them, Bush who was in custody at the Houston detachment was shot in the back of the head after he had been arrested for drinking beer outside of the hockey rink. To this day a candle light vigil is held out side of the Houston detachment on the 29th of each month by those offering support for the Bush family.

The next step in the process will be a Coroners investigation which may give out more details on the incidents that led to the shooting in the Houston detachment that night. The Bush family as has civil action pending against the officer, the BC Attorney General and the Solicitor General’s offices.

The shooting continues to raise questions about how the police investigate police involved incidents. In this case, the Major Crimes Unit out of Prince George did the initial investigation followed up by a review of the file by the New Westminster police department, working the file as an independent investigator.

Critics suggest that a totally independent review system should be in place outside of the ranks of municipal or RCMP police services. It very well may be an idea that is worth investigating further.

The website Opinion 250 had the following coverage on the story.

No Charges, No Surprise
By Opinion 250 News
Prince George, BC
Tuesday, September 05, 2006 04:45 PM

"We expected to hear that the police officer who shot my son would be set free," says Dawson Bush. He is the father of Ian Bush, the 22 year old man who was shot to death last October while leaving the Houston RCMP Detachment.

The Crown Counsel’s officer says the information gathered supported the officer’s explanation of events, that he was acting in self defense.

Dawson Bush is not satisfied "There is no possible way this man should walk away with a smile on his face after he shot my son to death without one single thing happening”. The elder Bush said he was attending the same hockey game as was his son that fateful night. As a matter of fact he said, "My daughter and I drove by the police station and saw the ambulance parked outside following the hockey game, we wondered what was going on."

Ian was having a beer outside of the arena between periods, when two police officers showed up.

They started to pour the beer out and the one officer (who Bush knew well) was within talking distance. The police officer who arrested Bush said he wanted Bush’s name, Ian gave him the wrong name twice and then the other officer said, "That’s Ian Bush" and went about confiscating other beer bottles.

Ian’s father Dawson said "When you have ever heard that a person was shot in the back of the head for resisting release from custody? How come that tape wasn’t rolling? I do hope that the Coroners’ inquest will open more doors for us, we also have a civil lawsuit taking place because we want to get to the bottom of this. Just what happened? That’s what we need to know."

He is grateful for all the support given his family in the wake of the shooting "I want to thank the people who have tried to make sure this thing isn’t swept under the carpet and I do hope they will continue with their efforts the whole family appreciates it. "

Ian Bush was shot in the back of the head while being released from the Houston Police station, after he was arrested for having an open beer and obstructing justice for failing to identify himself to police.

***Update*** Feeling a bit of heat from the public the Attorney General's office offered up a bit more information about the circumstances of the night in question. Below is a report from the CTV News website.

Oppal: Mountie shot B.C. man after being choked
Updated Wed. Sep. 6 2006 6:40 PM ET
Canadian Press

British Columbia's attorney general says a rookie RCMP officer was choked nearly unconscious before he managed to draw his pistol and kill a Houston, B.C., man he'd arrested.

Const. Paul Koester has been cleared of criminal charges in the October 2005 death of 22-year-old Ian Geoffrey Bush. But the RCMP and the government have been criticized for not going public about what happened that night in the northern B.C. town's small police station.

Now Attorney General Wally Oppal says that Koester, who had been a Mountie for less than a year, was alone with Bush in the detachment when the two somehow got into a fight.

Oppal says Bush -- who he says was moderately drunk and wasn't handcuffed -- managed to put a choke hold on Koester. The officer began passing out.

Before he lost consciousness Oppal says Koester managed to hit Bush with his fist and then with his pistol before shooting Bush in the back of the head.

Oppal says the Crown concluded Koester has good case for self-defence, supported by cuts the Mountie had on his head.