After one man suffered a serious injury during an encounter with police in Langley on Saturday night, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of BC, the police watchdog agency, has opened an investigation.
A statement issued Sunday by the IIO said information provided by the Abbotsford Police Department indicates that on Saturday, Oct. 17, at approximately 7:40 p.m., a man driving a pickup truck was involved in a motor vehicle incident near the intersection of King and McKenzie roads.
An officer attended the scene and conducted an investigation into the collision.
The man later departed the collision scene in a taxi.
Later that day, around 11:10 p.m., the IIO statement said, Langley RCMP officers responded to a report that a shot had been fired and a man had sustained what appeared to be serious, self-inflicted injury at a residence in the 26900-block of 27th Avenue.
“When officers arrived, they located and spoke with the man who was reportedly in possession of a weapon. Following an interaction, the man was taken into custody. Emergency Health Services were staged nearby and transported him to hospital.”
The man was later determined to be the same man involved in the collision in Abbotsford earlier that day.
That night, BCAS air ambulance landed at nearby Betty Gilbert Elementary School.
RCMP could be seen coming and going from the basement door of a house with evidence bags and a Victim Services worker was on the scene.
The IIO said it is investigating to determine what role, if any, the officers’ actions or inaction may have played in the man’s injury.
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The IIO is asking any person who saw, heard or recorded either the motor vehicle collision in Abbotsford or subsequent incident in Langley to contact the IIO Witness Line toll free at 1-855-446-8477 or via the contact form on the iiobc.ca website.
dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
