The fianc茅e of a distressed man is questioning how her partner ended up shot twice in the head by North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP on Tuesday night.

Davin Cochrane, 31, was admitted to the intensive care unit of a Victoria hospital clinging to life following a bizarre incident involving a skid steer he allegedly stole and drove recklessly around a North Cowichan neighbourhood Tuesday, March 28.

Sarah Annie Brown said authorities haven鈥檛 told her much except that her fianc茅 had reportedly been in a car accident earlier in the day and was due for surgery at Cowichan District Hospital but that somehow he had managed to leave the hospital and acquire the construction machine.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 understand what was going through his head,鈥� Brown said Wednesday morning. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a normal person thing to do.鈥�

Ashara Prokop watched some of the incident unfold from her front window.

鈥淲e just were sitting on the couch when we heard a large bobcat go by our road with the bucket scraping the road then saw a cop with his lights on go after him followed by the police truck,鈥� said Prokop.

Witnesses reported no fewer than five police vehicles attempting to stop the skid steer machine in the Somenos Road, Glacier Street, Hawkes Bouvelard and Evans Park areas.

鈥淲e heard six shots fired,鈥� Prokop said. 鈥淚t was shocking to hear.鈥�

Brown said she鈥檚 been told officers fired six shots, with two of them hitting Cochrane鈥檚 head.

鈥淗e鈥檚 on life support,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淭hey had to remove a large part of his brain to stop the bleeding.鈥�

Police said the incident occured around 9:15 p.m. March 28 when 鈥淩CMP received a report of a man who appeared impaired driving a track loader skid-steer down a residential street鈥�.

BC RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Alex B茅rub茅 said 鈥渙fficers attended and attempted to get the driver to stop, but there were collisions between the loader and police vehicles.

鈥淒uring the interaction that followed, one officer discharged their weapon striking the driver. Emergency Health Services were called and the man was transported to hospital with serious injuries.鈥�

An independent investigation will take place.

鈥淭he IIO has commenced an investigation, and initial investigative steps will seek to confirm the details of the interaction between the man and police,鈥� said a press release issued by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C.

The IIO is the independent civilian oversight agency of the police in B.C. It investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.

鈥淭he IIO is asking any person with relevant information or dashcam or other video footage of the incident to please contact the Witness Line toll-free at 1-855-446-8477 or via the contact form on the 飞别产蝉颈迟别.鈥�

Brown said she doesn鈥檛 understand why things went so wrong. She said she鈥檇 last heard from Cochrane on March 27 on the anniversary of them losing a baby and his grandmother. He had been struggling mentally and had left the couple鈥檚 home to stay with his sister for a while so he could keep his mental health battle away from the kids in their home.

鈥淗e was extremely upset and definitely going through something,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淗e does have some mental heath issues. He was not acting like himself,鈥� she continued. 鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 in the right state of mind at all. I don鈥檛 know if he relapsed, he鈥檇 been doing extremely well for three years. He was acting really strange.鈥�

Brown wondered if the medication he was given following his crash earlier in the day had interacted with his other medications.

鈥淗e was acting erratic,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey gave him ketamine. He got out somehow. I don鈥檛 even know how he left the hospital in that state.鈥�

She also wondered by nobody called her when he was taken to the hospital following the accident earlier in the day.

鈥淚 would have gone. I could have been there.鈥�

Instead of being at CDH in a surgical ward following a car accident, Brown is in a Victoria hospital praying her fianc茅 will survive being shot.

鈥淗e has a history [with police],鈥� she said.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if they judged him because of his history. Why couldn鈥檛 they have tried something else?鈥�

Cochrane鈥檚 32nd birthday is about a week away and the pair had been looking forward to their future with their 10-week-old daughter and the rest of the kids.

鈥淎ll he ever wanted to do was have a child so it seemed really odd what he was doing,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 an amazing dad. He鈥檚 all about the kids. None of it makes sense. I don鈥檛 have any answers.鈥�