Johnny Welch says he was undergoing a depressive episode when his friends told him to call the police because they were concerned for his well-being. After calling 911 in the morning of Aug. 28, he thought he’d taken a step toward getting the help he knew he needed.
"They showed up with guns drawn; I was so confused - I called for help," Welch told Black Press.
The dog-walker and prominent local hip-hop artist who goes by the stage name FleshXFur was diagnosed with anxiety and depression at a very young age. He said the Saanich police force had surrounded his Obed Avenue home. Welch said he feared for his life.
While still locked in his house, in the ensuing hours he said he spoke with police negotiators through the phone with the help of one of his dog-walking clients, and they eventually convinced him to step outside.
Over the phone, he claims he told police he was brandishing a knife and his plan would be to set the knife down outside before directly speaking with police.
"I started walking out the door with the knife and I was about 30 feet [away] from them when I was shot three times," he said. "Why [was] I shot when I told you in advance that I am going to put the knife down and talk to you? Why did you shoot me in my own f****** driveway like a dog?"
Welch was shot with a less-lethal bean-bag shotgun three times, including in the back.
He said police put him in handcuffs immediately after and he was taken to the Psychiatric Emergency Service unit at Royal Jubilee Hospital where he received treatment for his injuries, spent the night and was released the next morning with a "sound mind".
In the future, he said, he will not be calling the police as his trust in the institution has completely diminished.
"I called them for help and they shot me," he said. "I would never in a million years trust the police."
Saanich police confirmed they attended to the scene at around 10 a.m. for reports of a "distraught individual in possession of a weapon," which they clarified was a knife.
They say after an "extended period of negotiation," Welch exited the home, and they deployed the bean-bag shotgun to "safely take [him] into custody."
The department says they have since been in contact with Welch to make him aware of, and offer assistance with, the complaint process available to him regarding the incident.
Welch says in similar incidents in the future, police should send crisis care professionals and social workers rather than "police with their guns drawn".
"They made such an ordeal about something where I just needed to talk to somebody," he said. "Next time I'm in a similar situation, I'll call my aunt, uncle, dad, people I trust."
He has since left Victoria and is working on selling the house he lived in to move back to his hometown, Brampton, Ont.
"This whole event has given me PTSD, I'm no longer able to live in Victoria," he said.
Erica Woodin, a psychology professor at the University of Victoria, said situations such as this one are difficult in regards to maintaining safety and aiding an individual in crisis.
"Obviously, you don't want to escalate things, you want to try to de-escalating things as much as possible, but still maintaining safety, and how you do that is complicated," she said.
She said there have been trials and talks within Canadian police departments, including VicPD, in finding when, where, and in which situations social workers and crisis teams should be dispatched instead of police, or in tandem with police.
"There is this sort of conversation around how we can be supportive while still maintaining safety, that's the balance police are constantly facing," she said. "Police are trained in de-escalation techniques, and I'm sure they probably applied those in that situation, but for whatever reason they still felt that they still needed a response.
"I think [the weapon] really changes things [as it is] some indication of a threat."
Welch is speaking with a lawyer and plans to sue the department for their actions. The incident is not being investigated by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. as it does not meet the standards for "serious harm."
