B.C.’s civilian police watchdog has been deployed to Kamloops for an officer-involved shooting.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) confirmed that one man is dead after an incident involving a police response on Friday Night in the community.
Coverage of the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) on Globalnews.ca:
An RCMP news release said police received a report of a “suspicious and possibly impaired man” who was seen close to a camper trailer about three kilometres past the Rose Hill subdivision.
“His actions were somewhat odd, the particular facts of that we’re still gathering, but from what we know its certainly something that would have been reasonable to call the police about and reasonable for them to respond,” said IIO chief civilian director Ron MacDonald.
MacDonald said when police arrived, gunfire was reportedly exchanged. He said the IIO investigation will focus on confirming exactly what that sequence of events involved.
The area was cordoned off; the Southeast District Emergency Response Team was asked to attend the scene with other support units.
The RCMP confirmed that a man was found dead at the scene; no police officers or other members of the public were hurt.
The IIO was notified about the incident and are now investigating any connection between police activity and the individual’s death.
The IIO’s mandate is to investigate any police-related incident of death or serious injury in order to determine whether an officer may have committed an offence.
The IIO does not recommend charges.
Following an investigation, the IIO’s chief civilian director decides whether or not to forward a report to Crown counsel, whose role is to decide whether or not charges are warranted.