The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. will look into a fatal police shooting in Surrey and a death in custody after an arrest in Mission
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. has been called in after deaths on Sunday involving police in Surrey and Mission.
Shortly after 2:30 p.m., a distressed person was reported to have a firearm in a schoolyard in the area of 70th Avenue and 188th Street in Surrey.
After Surrey RCMP officers arrived, shots were fired in the area of 70th Avenue and 185th Street. Paramedics were called in, but the person had died. No one else was injured.
Asked about reports the person shot went to nearby Clayton Heights Secondary, a spokesperson for the Surrey school district confirmed a student from the high school “sadly passed away over the weekend.”
Counsellors are at Clayton Heights to support staff, students and the community, said the district.
No further information will be released by police, said B.C. RCMP spokesperson Dawn Roberts in a statement.
In Mission on Sunday afternoon, police reported an in-custody death.
Abbotsford Police Department officers followed a suspicious vehicle into Mission, where the driver eventually stopped at the Junction Mall complex.
The traffic stop led to an interaction with the vehicle’s occupants, during which a man was arrested and placed in a police vehicle. Shortly after, the man went into medical distress and was pronounced dead in hospital.
The IIO has taken over the investigation and will try to determine whether police actions or inactions contributed to the man’s death.