The province’s police watchdog has been called in to investigate a fatal watercraft accident on Okanagan Lake that involved an off-duty police officer.
According to the B.C. RCMP, the incident involving two personal watercraft happened Thursday morning, just before 11:30 a.m., with one person being seriously injured in the collision.
“Officers attended the Summerland boat launch,” the RCMP said in a press release, “and the operator of one of the watercraft identified themselves as an off-duty RCMP officer.”
The seriously injured person was taken to hospital, but later died.
RCMP say the B.C. Coroners Service has been notified and that the Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) will be investigating the actions of the off-duty police officer.
“Emergency Health Services transported the man to a hospital for treatment, but he was pronounced deceased in the evening on the same day,” the IIO said in a press release.
The IIO conducts investigations into police-related incidents of death or serious harm to determine whether or not a police officer may have committed an offence.
More about the IIO can be found on its website.