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A B.C. Mountie has been charged with manslaughter in connection with a 2015 fatal shooting near Castlegar.

Waylon Jesse Edey, 39, of Yahk was shot and killed during an attempted traffic stop.

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On Tuesday, the B.C. prosecution service approved a charge of manslaughter using a firearm against Const. Jason Tait, of the RCMP’s West Kootenay traffic unit.

“I was very pleased that they found evidence to charge the officer. It is what we have been waiting for,” Deborah Edey, Waylon Edey’s mother, told Postmedia late on Tuesday.

“It has been a long three years. His kids, myself and Waylon’s brother and sister have all had a very rough three years waiting for this.”

Tait is scheduled to appear in Castlegar provincial court on April 30.

The Jan. 29, 2015 shooting occurred near the Kinnaird bridge, a two-lane span that crosses the Columbia River on Highway 3.

At the time, the RCMP said officers responded to a complaint of a possibly impaired driver. Police said an officer left his patrol car and fired on the driver.