A man is dead after being shot by police west of Kamloops and north of Walhachin early Monday morning (Aug. 15) while apparently leaving a trailer with a child who had reportedly been abducted.
The child was uninjured.
The province’s watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia, is looking into the matter.
The BC RCMP said a 911 call was received at 5:20 p.m. on Sunday from a woman asking for help from what sounded like vehicle. A short time later, a second call was received reporting an erratic driver on the Trans-Canada Highway west of Kamloops, with a woman attempting to get out of the vehicle.
At approximately 5:45 p.m., a third caller reported that a family member and a child had been abducted. The BC RCMP said officers attended the scene and found an empty vehicle with a weapon inside. Shortly before 9 p.m., officers arrived at a rural property after receiving a report of the original suspect vehicle near a trailer on Deadman Vidette Road, about 14 kilometres from the Trans-Canada Highway.
There, police established a roadblock and the RCMP’s emergency response team was called in.
About six hours later, after 3 a.m. on Monday, police say the male suspect came out of the trailer with a weapon and a child.
“During the engagement with officers, the man was shot and killed,” RCMP said in a statement. “The child was uninjured and a woman was subsequently located with non-life injuries inside the trailer.”
The woman was taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries sustained prior to the police interaction and the child was uninjured.
Meanwhile, shortly after 9 p.m. on Sunday, Kamloops RCMP went to the suspect’s home after receiving a report of a second woman who was found injured and bound inside. She was taken to hospital for treatment.
Police are investigating the initial complaint and the second assault investigation, while the IIO BC is investigating police actions. As the matter is now under investigation by the IIOBC, no further information will be released by police.
The IIOBC is asking anybody with relevant information, dashcam or other video footage of the incident to contact the witness line toll-free at 1-855-446-8477 or via the contact form on the iiobc.ca website.
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