A man is dead following a police-involved shooting in Sechelt early Saturday morning, prompting an investigation by British Columbia’s civilian police watchdog.
Sunshine Coast RCMP say officers were called to a home on Oldmill Lane at 3:31 a.m. on November 1 after reports of a man in distress armed with an edged weapon. When police arrived, they located the man nearby, but he fled back into a residence where other occupants, including children, were present.
Officers pursued the man inside and attempted to negotiate with him as he allegedly continued to hold the weapon. The Lower Mainland Integrated Emergency Response Team was later deployed to assist in managing the tense standoff.
After several hours of police presence, an interaction occurred inside the residence at approximately 10:38 a.m. Shots were fired, and the man was struck. Paramedics with BC Emergency Health Services, who had been staged nearby, entered the home to provide medical care, but the individual did not survive. No other injuries were reported.
The Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia (IIO BC), which examines all cases of police actions resulting in serious harm or death, has been notified and will conduct an independent investigation into the circumstances of the incident. The IIO’s mandate is to determine whether police actions or decisions contributed to the fatal outcome.
The identity of the deceased has not been released.
