B.C.’s civilian police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office, is looking into an officer-involved shooting in which Delta Police officers in Langley attempted to arrest two suspects Wednesday evening.
One witness told Global News that at around 7 p.m. at 200 Street and 24 Avenue, he heard the sound of a crash and several ‘pops’ that sounded like gunfire.
Another witness described seeing an unmarked police cruiser with two Delta police officers inside ram a suspect vehicle. One suspect appeared to have been shot in the leg, the witness said.
In a statement released to media late Wednesday night, Delta Police say they were in Langley on “a matter related to a serious investigation from the previous week,” when officers attempted to arrest two men.
The statement goes on to say that during the attempted arrest, the two suspects “received non-life-threatening injuries” before they were arrested. No civilians were injured during the incident, and neither were any police officers injured.
The Independent Investigations Office issued a media bulletin late Wednesday stating that the information they received from the Delta Police Department indicates that at approximately 6:20 p.m. Wednesday, Delta officers were conducting an investigation near 200 Street and 24 Avenue.
The statement adds that while attempting to arrest two men related to the investigation, Delta police fired shots, striking one of the men. Both men arrested sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the interaction with officers, and were taken to hospital for treatment.
RCMP have now taken over from the Delta Police investigation regarding the two men, concurrent with the IIO investigation.
Delta Police say they will not be commenting further on the matter.
The IIO is asking anyone who saw, heard or recorded the arrest of the man to contact the IIO Witness Line toll free at 1-855-446-8477, or via the contact form on the iiobc.ca website.