A man has died following a police-involved shooting in the Mill Bay area on Saturday afternoon.
Officers from the Shawnigan Lake RCMP were following up on an assault investigation in the 1100 block of Shawnigan-MillBay Road, police explained in a press release late Saturday afternoon.
shooting victim’s neighbour
Shortly after noon, officers arrived at a home in the Cedar Creek Mobile Home Park to arrest a man in connection with theassault. When they entered the residence, a man advanced on them with what police described as an “edged weapon.” Officersattempted to subdue him with a Taser, but were unsuccessful. Police then fired shots, hitting the man. He was transported tohospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Neighbours say they first saw RCMP officers outside their trailer and watched them as they checked out the numbers on thetrailers.
“I saw two cops standing by my tree,” Kristyn Seward recalled. “Then they walked to the neighbours and I heard one of themsay, ‘This is the place’. A few minutes later I heard four shots.”
Josh Archer also heard the four shots.
“It seemed odd because I didn’t see anybody running or anything after I heard the shots,” Archer said.
“The ambulance came, two of them, one was an advance life support (ambulance) and I watched them wheel him out on astretcher. Then the ambulance left with the lights on but no siren .”
By then, Archer says, there were several police vehicles on the scene.
Neighbours say the victim lived in thetrailer with his mother.
“We went to high school together,” Archer said. “The cops had been here many times to deal with him. I didn’t hang out withhim or anything. He didn’t work and was a party type of guy.
“He’d live here for awhile and then get kicked out. He was kind of in and out.”
The neighbours say they don’t believe the man’s mother was at home at the time of the shooting.
No police officers nor any other members of the public were injured.
The Independent Investigation Office of BC has been notified and will assume responsibility for the investigation. AdditionalRCMP resources have been deployed to Shawingan Lake in order to maintain core policing services.
Police were still at the scene late into the evening Saturday night.
Witnesses are asked to contact the IIO BC at 1-855-446-8477.
More information to come as it becomes available.