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Vancouver police cleared after man sets fire to himself, McDonald’s

Independent Investigations Office report released into March incident at Commercial and Broadway
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This gas can was recovered from where the man sat at the back of the McDonald’s. (IIO)

Vancouver police officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing after a man poured gas all over a McDonald’s restaurant, the place caught fire, and he got hurt in an altercation with officers.

Back on March 15, police responded to a report of a man on fire at the fast food restaurant at Commercial Drive and Broadway at 9:54 p.m., the Independent Investigations Office said in a report released Thursday.

Officers arrived and fired off an ARWEN, the report said, which shoots plastic or rubber bullets.

“The officers, along with the firefighters, placed themselves in danger by going into the restaurant where (the man) was on fire, to contain an already volatile situation,” the report said.

“There is no evidence that the officers committed any office in the course of this interaction with (the man). In fact, evidence showed the officers acted at risk to themselves in meeting all of their duties as police officers.”

The man’s injuries were as a result of his own actions, the report said.