The Prince George RCMP have referred an incident that shut down Highway 16 Tuesday night (May 27) to the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) after a person was shot by Mounties.
Both the IIO and RCMP released a statement on the incident.
"The incident involved members of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU), Prince George RCMP, and Emergency Response Team (ERT)," the IIO news release says.
On the Mounties' end, the release says the man who was shot was seriously injured and taken to hospital.
The shooting occurred after officers attempted to stop what they believed was a stolen vehicle, a Volvo, near East Perry Road in Prince George. Mounties say the driver is alleged to have exited the vehicle and shot at police before getting back in and fleeing.
RCMP then say they chased the man to a forest service road in the Tabor-Ferndale area.
"There was an exchange of gunfire, and the driver of the Volvo, a man, sustained non-life-threatening injuries," the IIO release says. The release by RCMP says after the exchange of gunfire, the man returned to the vehicle but was arrested without further incident.
The IIO will be looking into two questions:
- If there has been an injury that meets the threshold of serious harm, as defined by the Police Act, or a death; and
- If there is a connection between the serious harm/death and police action or inaction.
The night of the incident, Mounties released a statement notifying the public Highway 16 would be closed and officers were being joined by the ERT, a police helicopter, a dog squad, Highway Patrol and the CFSEU.
Both the IIO and RCMP say the incident was immediately reported to the police watchdog who will now conduct an investigation.
