The Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia is seeking additional witnesses to an incident that occurred in Dawson Creek.
The police watchdog confirms the affected person in this incident, the man who was arrested near the 7-Eleven in Dawson Creek, was pronounced deceased on Friday (June 21st).
Just after 8 am Thursday morning, the RCMP responded to a complaint of individuals in possession of firearms and bear spray.
Officers were on scene immediately and took three individuals into custody.
According to police, one man fled and, after a brief foot pursuit, was apprehended outside a convenience store.
Shortly after being taken into custody, the man went into medical distress and lost consciousness.
Four police officers sustained injuries with three of them requiring medical attention.
North District RCMP’s Regional General Investigation Section out of Prince George has been assigned the lead role in the investigation of the original weapons complaint.
The police watchdog is asking that anyone who saw any part of the Thursday incident (June 20th) between the man and police to please contact an investigator.
The IIO would specifically like to speak to several people who were at the 7-Eleven during the incident:
- A man wearing glasses, an orange or yellow baseball-style hat, a red shirt with possibly a blue shirt underneath, a dark leather jacket, and blue jeans.
- A man with shoulder-length hair and a mustache wearing a black baseball-style hat, a dark-coloured shirt with a tan or beige button overshirt/jacket, and dark-coloured pants or jeans. The man had a pair of sun or regular glasses on his hat, and another pair hanging from his shirt.
- A man wearing glasses with a goatee, a dark-coloured “dry goods prod.” shirt with a dark-coloured unzipped hoodie on top, dark pants or jeans and drives a red Ford pickup truck.
- A man with short brown hair and a clean-shaven face, wearing a black or dark-coloured t-shirt, and dark jeans or pants who drives a red Nissan pickup truck with body-matched bumpers and hard canopy.
- A man wearing a dark-coloured baseball-style hat with sunglasses on top, a long-sleeved, light-coloured striped buttoned shirt, and blue jeans who drives a silver Ford Explorer.
- Drivers of the vehicles may have been from either BC or Alberta.
The IIO commended the effort of a pair of witnesses who responded to the initial media release, and the public who assisted in locating them.
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