A man died in hospital after being shot by North Vancouver RCMP following a series of violent incidents at Westview Shopping Centre on July 21, 2026.
Police responded around 1:12 p. m.
to reports of a suspect threatening people with a knife inside a business.
The suspect allegedly attempted to rob a McDonald's using a box cutter before moving to the parking lot.
A bystander intervened inside the restaurant, disarming the suspect before he fled outside to attempt multiple carjackings.
According to police and witness statements, the man attempted to steal a pickup truck, colliding with parked vehicles.
He then tried to carjack another vehicle at a nearby Esso gas station, reportedly attempting to douse himself with gasoline before entering an unoccupied RCMP cruiser.
Officers engaged the suspect inside the police cruiser, where a conducted energy weapon was deployed and police fired shots.
The suspect succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital shortly after the incident.
Witness Accounts
Witness Arman Abadi described intervening during the initial hostage situation inside the McDonald's.
"I look up, as I'm waiting in line, I look and I notice a guy. He's behind the counter on an employee," said Abadi.
Abadi stated that he managed to disarm the suspect before the man escaped to the parking lot.
"He pulls out a knife and takes one of the employees hostage. Most people run out of the restaurant.
I wait inside, trying to see what's going on.
Eventually, he makes his way around to the front. He turns his back to me and I grab his hands.
I wrestle with him, get the knife away from him, throw it under a table and I start fighting him," said Abadi.
He noted that the suspect claimed to possess additional weapons during the struggle.
"I pin him against the wall, one guy helps me. I ask everyone else to come help as well.
So at this point, I've gotten the knife away.
No one else comes in to help. He says, 'I have another knife, let me go'.
I'm like, if you have another knife, I'm not going to let you go," said Abadi.
Abadi detailed how the suspect attempted to steal vehicles outside immediately after.
"Starts to steal a truck," said Abadi.
The suspect then encountered resistance while attempting to flee in the first vehicle.
"Can't get it turned on, puts it in neutral.
I go up to the door; he pulls out a yellow box cutter, I back up, he rolls down the parking lot and hits another car and gets out, runs to the gas station trying to steal another car, and then the cops show up," said Abadi.
Westview Freshslice pizza owner Bahman Afshari witnessed the subsequent events in the parking lot.
"I see the guy sitting in the pickup truck over there, the van, and they have a knife in his hand, try to hit the people who would get close to them," said Afshari.
Afshari recounted how the suspect moved toward the gas station and police vehicles.
"Then he couldn't run away from the car, he jumped in the gas station, going in the other car, couldn't go that way, again tried the other car.
Then he can't go that way, there is one cop's car coming, he's beside him, he jumps in the cop's car, tries to get away from him, and he gets shot, with a rubber bullet," said Afshari.
Afshari noted the intensity of the scene at the shopping center.
"It was terrible; it was like a movie action, you know. Everything you see on the movie, you see the life in front of your eyes," said Afshari.
He added that the suspect continued trying to enter open vehicles.
"If it's open, he get inside," said Afshari.
Police Response and Investigation
In an official statement regarding the shooting, police confirmed officers fired weapons during the confrontation inside the cruiser.
"During the ensuing interaction with responding officers, a conducted energy weapon (CEW) was deployed, and shots were fired by police," said North Vancouver RCMP.
An unidentified witness described seeing officers surround a vehicle prior to the final encounter.
"They all came flying in to surround the black Chevy Malibu ... with guns drawn screaming and yelling," said the witness.
The witness further detailed how the suspect ran directly toward the police cruiser.
"He then went bolting towards the police.
I watched him run right towards the police cruiser and then jump in the seat," said the witness.
The witness observed officers discharging their firearms during the struggle.
"They clearly shot him. I think it was about three or four times," said the witness.
The witness described the scene immediately following the shooting.
"Everybody went back up to standing and they just went and got their police tape," said the witness.
Following the incident, North Vancouver RCMP issued an alert restricting access to the area.
"We are asking the public to avoid the area until further notice," said North Vancouver RCMP.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of B. C.
has been deployed to conduct an independent investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
