The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) is investigating a man’s death while being arrested by RCMP officers in Chilliwack. According to the IIO, based on information provided by the Upper Fraser Valley RCMP, police responded to a report of a fight near March Street and Patten Avenue. They report that a man was arrested by police, then went into medical distress. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
No other details are available at the time.
The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) is investigating the death of a woman while in Burnaby RCMP custody on March 7, 2024. It is reported that officers arrested a woman near Moscrop Street and Deer Lake Parkway at approximately 9 AM. Later that day she was found unresponsive while in custody at the Burnaby detachment. It is reported that RCMP had arrested the woman the night before and released her, before arresting her again an hour later. Resuscitation efforts were not successful, and she was later pronounced dead.
No other details are available at this time.
The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) is investigating the death of a man who was in medical distress when Burnaby RCMP arrested him on February 28, 2024.
It is reported that at about 12:17 AM, police and Emergency Health Services (EHS) responded to a call on the 2200 block of Douglas Road regarding an unconscious man.The man regained consciousness, but police then arrested him on an unrelated matter.
Shortly after being arrested, the man again lost consciousness. EHS attempted life-saving measures, but the man was later pronounced dead.
Abbotsford police shot and killed a man on the evening of December 17, 2023. The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) reports that Abbotsford Police Department officers responded to “a report of a suicidal male” at around 10 PM at the 1700-block of Riverside Road. The IIO says there was “an interaction” between the man and police and the man was shot by officers and died at the scene.
This is the second person shot and killed by Abbotsford police in under a month. Another man was killed near the Abbotsford Regional Hospital on November 30, 2023.
Police are not care, they are violence. They are not the appropriate response for someone in crisis and should not be deployed against them.
A man was shot and killed by an Abbotsford Police Department (APD) officer following a call to the Abbotsford Regional Hospital on November 30, 2023. The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of BC reports that at about 3:45 PM, APD officers responded to a report of a man with a weapon at the Abbotsford Regional Hospital. When police arrived, there was allegedly some sort of unspecified interaction between the man and police and an officer fired their weapon, striking the man. The victim received immediate treatment but was subsequently pronounced dead.
Initial reports said the shooting occurred at the hospital. Subsequent reports said officers arrived in the area of Robertson Avenue and Ware Street and a confrontation occurred in that area. Police have said the man was running away, but it is not reported how police intervened against him prior to shooting him.
Family members have identified Don Bennett (66) as the man believed to have died in a fire inside a barn during an RCMP “wellness check” at a blueberry farm in Langley on November 10, 2023. It is reported that there was an hours-long standoff beginning when RCMP were called for a wellness check on an “individual who was distraught and made concerning comments.” RCMP arrived at a farm on the 23000-block of 0 Avenue, on the Canada-U.S. border, at around 4 PM. Police claim they heard gunshots and, in response, called the force’s integrated emergency response team. Police claim that at around 10:40 PM a fire broke out that consumed the barn, leaving the person inside likely dead.
Bennett’s daughter, Nicky McIntosh, has come forward to question the RCMP handling of the encounter and to ask whether RCMP did enough to defuse the situation. McIntosh told media that an armed response to a mental health crisis was not justified. She also wished the RCMP had involved Bennett’s family early on. In her words: “I don’t know if there was a mental health worker or a social worker or a support worker in attendance with the officers who came to do the initial wellness check. But the family wasn’t involved from the beginning. And by the time we did find out about it, I think it had already escalated to a point where I don’t know if there was any way to go back.”
McIntosh said she was only notified of the standoff a bit before RCMP said the barn burned down. She is asking why the family was not contacted earlier: “He has so many friends and family members that could have easily been contacted, even just to touch base with him. And then who was on the scene with the police officers? Because when somebody is in mental distress, having a badge and a gun isn’t necessarily the answer.”
Incredibly, police called in dog handlers to remove dogs that were on scene and allegedly impairing police movements. The dog handlers claim a shot was fired near them. Yet, while it has not been determined that counselors were dispatched for Mr. Bennett, it has been reported that a counselor was called to the scene—for the dog handlers. Sarah Jones, executive director of the Aldergrove-based Langley Animal Protection Society told media, “She was called that evening and had a session with each of them in the night to make sure that they were okay. They’re getting the mental health and emotional support they need, and they’re doing remarkably well, but I think this [is] something that [can] show up later.”
Bennett had reportedly rented space on the property to park his RV for around a decade. He had been living in the RV inside the barn.
The owners of the blueberry farm have also come forward to say how the police operation traumatized them, leaving them in shock even two days later. The Brar family says that police tactical officers arrived at their door and told them to hide in their farmhouse with the lights off as dozens of officers “swarmed” the property.
According to Sandeep Brar, “The SWAT team…they were running around all the house. We were totally shocked. There’s lots of RCMP police cars, fire trucks, and then ambulances … I was totally shocked and I keep crying—what’s going on here? We never had any kind of a problem.”
Brar said her nine-year-old daughter and two elderly parents were in the house at the time, while she and her husband got stopped at a police barricade while trying to return home after running some errands elsewhere. Brar told media, “My daughter was crying and my parents didn’t know what to do.” Ranvir Brar, a 14-year-old daughter, told media of the fear inside the house. In her words, “My little sister was in the house and my grandparents … [It] was pretty scary for them.”
McIntosh described her father as easygoing and kind man, who was close to her two daughters. In her words, “Everyone he met—strangers on the ferry, on the trail, Campbell Valley Park where he rode his horses—he would make friends everywhere.”
She said that anyone close to Bennett knew he struggled with mental health issues, and that he was in a crisis on that day. Recognizing that many people have died during so-called wellness checks in Canada, McIntosh said, “If they don’t change the way they deal with it, it won’t be the last time either.”
Garry Pashe Jr (23), a member of the Long Plain First Nation, has been publicly identified by family as the man shot and killed by RCMP on August 27, 2023, in Revelstoke, British Columbia. His sister Mellisa Pashe reports that he was trying to get home to Manitoba for his son’s birthday when police killed him. She believes lack of money for the trip may have influenced his actions.
RCMP claim they were responding to reports of a stolen vehicle, and they collided with a red SUV. Mr. Pasche was shot and killed after allegedly entering a police vehicle. The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) has stated that one officer fired multiple shots. No information has been given publicly regarding what, if any, threat Mr. Pasche posed to anyone.
We originally reported on the killing when it occurred.
RCMP shot and killed a man in Revelstoke, British Columbia on August 27, 2023. The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of BC reports that the shooting occurred on Victoria Road East in Revelstoke. Police claim that at 11 PM, Revelstoke RCMP received a report regarding a stolen vehicle and around 11:48 PM responded after the vehicle owner reported that they had located their vehicle, which had since left the area.
Police located the vehicle and a police vehicle collided with the other vehicle in an attempt by police to stop it. The man reportedly exited the vehicle and police claim that after a brief foot chase allegedly entered the police vehicle. According to the RCMP, one officer fired their weapon striking the man. Emergency Health Services attended and transported the man to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Photos from the scene show a damaged red Honda CRV with its driver’s side back door and molding crumpled. The vehicle is behind police tape.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of BC is investigating the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old, identified as male, by Vancouver Police Department (VPD) officers in East Vancouver in the early-morning of August 5, 2023.
They report that at approximately 2:15 AM VPD received a report regarding the alleged sound of gunfire in Clinton Park, near Grant and Penticton Streets. Officers located a youth in the park and he was shot by police. He was transported to hospital, where he died.
Witnesses have since reported hearing around 20 shots. At least 24 police bullet casing markers have been shown in media reports. Witnesses say they only heard a sound like a firecracker before hearing a staccato of gunshots. Witnesses have also reported that they did not hear police give direction to the person before opening fire but only heard officers telling each other to be careful of a crossfire. No non-police firearm has been confirmed publicly as being present.
John Boyce, a 53-year-old man died after being arrested and kept overnight in cells by Oceanside RCMP on July 18. Mr. Boyce died in hospital on the morning of July 22. The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) reports that police responded to calls about a man allegedly causing a disturbance in the 100-block of Island Highway West in Parksville.
RCMP arrested a man, later identified as Mr. Boyce, and put him in cells at the Oceanside detachment. They claim that when he was released the following morning, he appeared unwell, so they contacted paramedics, who took the man to hospital.
At the hospital, he was determined to have suffered a serious injury.
On July 27, Oceanside RCMP Sergeant Shane Worth clarified that police and BC Ambulance paramedics were dispatched at 6:45 PM on July 18 to the Craig Street Market in Parksville to assist Mr. Boyce, who reportedly told a witness he had been assaulted.
Mr. Boyce left the market before first responders arrived but was found an hour later in Memorial Plaza. He was arrested for allegedly causing a disturbance and detained in cells.
Police have not said why they arrested someone who was allegedly the victim of an assault.
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