Vancouver police shoot man on SkyTrain allegedly threatening riders with machete

VANCOUVER – A man who allegedly used a machete to threaten passengers on a busy SkyTrain car during the Monday morning commute was shot after refusing to drop the weapon, Vancouver police say.

Const. Jason Doucette said in a news release that officers responded around 8:30 a.m. to the 29th Street SkyTrain station in east Vancouver.

Transit Police, who were the first to arrive, evacuated the train and the surrounding area before closing the car doors to prevent the man from leaving.

A negotiator was brought on scene but the man eventually broke out of the train with the machete, police said.

"He refused to follow police directions to drop the weapon and was shot by a VPD officer," Doucette said.

The suspect was in hospital and had not been identified, he added. The man's condition was not known.

Anne Drennan, a spokeswoman for Transit Police, said the Independent Investigations Office has been notified. The office is a civilian-led body that responds to incidents of serious injury or death involving police officers.

Bus service to the area was diverted for hours and trains passed through the station without stopping to allow the police watchdog to investigate, Drennan said. The station reopened later on Monday afternoon.

No one else was injured, she said.