Video emerges showing VPD shoot Indigenous man with beanbag gun

@tarajones65/TikTok | Samantha Wilson/Submitted

Content warning: This story contains graphic video and descriptions of violence

Chris Amyotte’s family has shared a video showing the interaction with police in the Downtown Eastside where he was shot with a beanbag gun before he died.

What happened between Amyotte and police — and the tactics used — has been a subject of tense discussion between his family, the Vancouver Police Department, and the Independent Investigations Office.

Now, video appears to show some of what happened on East Hastings Street on August 22.

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The three-minute clip, filmed by TikTok user Tara Jones and re-shared by Amyotte’s cousin Samantha Wilson, appears to show Ammyotte emerging from Laxmi Convenience completely naked.

His family says he had taken off his clothes to relieve the burning sensation after being caught in a bear spray attack.

Amyotte sits on the sidewalk outside the convenience store and dumps a carton of milk over his head in an effort to ease the pain, according to his family. After a few seconds, Amyotte gets up, pours milk on his head again, walks towards several tents, and sits down in a chair.

After pouring milk over himself two more times, Amyotte gets up and walks back and forth before throwing the empty milk carton away.

At one point, a passerby on the street appears startled and runs away.

That’s when a Vancouver police cruiser pulls up. Several officers surround Amyotte outside the tent cluster, and Amyotte appears to turn and walk away. The officers follow him, and one can be seen holding the beanbag rifle.

Amyotte appears to be struck and goes from standing to sitting, then to lying on the sidewalk as officers move in on him.

Several officers kneel down over Amyotte, while the officer carrying the gun stands back. A couple more officers enter the frame and stand guard during the commotion.

Jones, who filmed the video, said in a TikTok comment they spent approximately an hour performing CPR.

Vancouver police have said Amyotte died after going into “medical distress” following an interaction with them. The force didn’t initially reveal officers had fired on Amyotte — it took witnesses speaking up for that information to become public.

Wilson, Amyotte’s cousin and the primary spokesperson for his family, said she initially felt shame when she first saw the video. But on Wednesday she shared it on Twitter in the name of justice for her relative.

“The panic and fear he felt. His thoughts were in his last moments,” she said. “[Police] are not all the same but those of you who choose to end lives need to be held accountable. My family is coming for justice.”

Samantha Wilson, cousin of Chris Amyotte, speaks during a news conference in Vancouver on September 1, 2022. (Daily Hive Vancouver)

Amyotte’s family is calling for an inquest into his death, saying police used far more excessive force than was necessary because Amyotte was naked, unarmed, and apparently asking for help.

They’ve also launched a lawsuit against the City of Vancouver and the police department over the incident.

The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) is looking into what happened. The police watchdog investigates all serious injuries and deaths in BC involving police.

“Mr. Amyotte died following an interaction with police in which officers discharged a ‘beanbag’ weapon. The IIO’s investigation into the case will determine what role, if any, police actions or inactions played in Mr. Amyotte’s death,” the agency said in a September 3 statement.

Amyotte was a 42-year-old father of seven and was in the city from Winnipeg to visit one of his children who was starting a post-secondary program, according to his family. They have a GoFundMe in place gathering donations to seek justice in his memory.