An RCMP officer and a suspect were injured Friday morning, May 12, in an incident where a police vehicle was hit and a man shot outside of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment on Canada Avenue.
Canada Avenue was closed and neighbours were shaken when the incident unfolded outside the detachment.
RCMP said in a press release that a member of the detachment was doing a check of his vehicle in the detachment’s parking lot at around 6:30 a.m. when a man drove into the lot and hit the police vehicle, which was pushed into a ditch, injuring the member.
The press release said that another officer discharged his weapon at the suspect’s vehicle, hitting the man. Both the suspect and the RCMP officer were taken to hospital with what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.
“This is a very disturbing incident for our members and employees,” said Inspector Chris Bear, officer in charge of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP. “Additional supports and resources have been brought in to our detachment and core policing operations for the community will not be impacted. We are unsure what the man’s intentions were at this time, but the investigation will look to determine that.”
An assault investigation is being done by the detachment’s General Investigation Section.
A 15-second video of what appears to be a portion of the incident is circulating on Facebook. It shows a police vehicle and a black SUV that appear to have been in a collision. A man gets out of the back door of the SUV as two police officers rapidly approach on foot. His hands are obscured in the video as he turns toward police. An officer raises his hands toward him in a shooting position and the man drops to the pavement.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. is investigating the incident, as they do all police-involved shootings, and will release more information later today, a spokesperson said.
Residents in the neighbouring Meadowglen apartments witnessed parts of the incident.
“I could see the roof of a police car in the ditch, and paramedics down there with someone,” one said.
The Municipality of North Cowichan sent out a tweet at 7:45 a.m. saying Canada Avenue was closed between the Trans Canada Highway and Beverly Street due to the incident.
Walk-in front desk service at the detachment was closed on Friday due to the investigation.
🚨 May 12 7:45am 🚧CANADA AVE CLOSED 🚨 between the Trans Canada Highway and Beverley due to a police incident. Please avoid the area and take an alternate route. pic.twitter.com/Bok1RVPzfX
— North Cowichan (@NorthCowichan) May 12, 2023
More as it becomes available.