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Man killed by police in Lytton called 911, asking to be shot: RCMP

Howard Schantz, also known as Barry Schantz was killed following a standoff at his Lytton home
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Kamloops this Week

A Lytton man killed by police last week spoke to a 911 operator two hours before his death, asking to be shot by Mounties, according to an RCMP affidavit.

Court documents identify the dead man as Howard Schantz, also known as Barry Schantz. He was killed following a standoff at his Lytton home on Jan. 13.

Lytton is two hours southwest of Kamloops, in the Fraser Canyon.

According to a police affidavit, Lytton RCMP responded to Schantz’s home on McIntyre Road at about 8:15 a.m. after his wife called police to say her husband was “playing with a gun.”

The woman told a dispatcher Schantz, described as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following a lengthy sentence in a U.S. prison, was suicidal.

She said she and her 19-year-old daughter were hiding in separate bedrooms, but neither could escape because their windows were frozen shut.

Schantz’s wife told police he was attempting to draw attention to “corruption of the system,” including drugs and First Nations incarceration. She said he told her he was waiting for 100 police officers and media to arrive.

According to the document, Schantz emerged from the home when police arrived and fired one shot from a shotgun in the direction of Mounties.

The responding officers took cover and the RCMP’s emergency response team was dispatched, arriving three hours later and surrounding Schantz’s home.

Both Schantz’s wife and her daughter left the home without incident at about 10:15 a.m.

At about noon, the document states, Schantz phoned 911 and told the operator he planned to walk outside “and requested police shoot him six times into his body and will walk towards the police officers with his shotgun.”

Schantz walked out of his home holding a 12-gauge shotgun at 2:05 p.m. and was shot while standing on his patio, the document states.

“At 2:10 p.m., specially trained medics with ERT approached to render first aid to Schantz,” the document reads. “No vital signs were detected and medics began first aid and chest compressions. Schantz was declared deceased shortly thereafter.”

The shooting is being investigated by B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office, a watchdog agency tasked with examining the circumstances surrounding incidents in which actions by police in B.C. result in the serious injury or death of a civilian.

READ MORE: One man dead after police-involved shooting near Lytton

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