By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
The Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia (IIO BC) has been called in to investigate an incident near Midway where an RCMP officer was injured by a gun shot earlier today (Nov. 26).
The officer was transported to hospital and has since been released with non-life-threatening injuries.
Preliminary information at this time has led the RCMP to believe that the gun shot wound to the RCMP member was due to police officer fire. As a result the matter will also be the subject of a workplace incident investigation, the RCMP said in a statement.
The injury occurred while taking two individuals into custody after a suspicious truck was spotted originally in Kelowna.
On Tuesday, Nov. 26 around 10:30 a.m. Kelowna RCMP identified a suspicious F-350 truck and began to monitor it. Coordinates were conveyed to neighbouring detachments and Air Services supported with air surveillance as it traveled along Highway 33 towards Carmi.
The suspicious truck traveled through multiple jurisdictions and eventually began driving up a forest service road towards the Midway area.
Just before 1:30 p.m. resources including plainclothes members from Penticton and the Kelowna General Investigation Unit, as well as SED Police Dog Services attempted to the pull over the vehicle and arrest those inside.
During the arrest the two individuals were taken into custody, with one suspect receiving a non-serious dog bite. This individual was also transported to hospital and released with non-life-threatening injuries.
Kelowna General Investigation Section will be leading the concurrent investigation related to the initial suspicious vehicle investigation.
The IIO BC is currently reviewing the matter and as such police have stated no further information will be released at this time.
