A B.C. RCMP officer was injured by police-fired gunshots in an arrest near Midway on Nov. 26.
"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," said Dawn Roberts, director of B.C. RCMP communication services in a press release following the incident.
The BC RCMP has notified the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia, which is a civilian-led police oversight agency, and an investigation has been opened into the incident.
On Tuesday November 26, at approximately 10:30 a.m., Kelowna RCMP identified a "suspicious" F-350 truck and began to monitor it. Neighbouring detachments were notified and air surveillance was used to track the vehicle as it travelled along Highway 33 towards Carmi.
The truck then began driving up a forest service road towards Midway.
Shortly before 1:30 p.m. the RCMP made an attempt to pull over the vehicle and arrest those inside.
The details of the arrest have not been made public but plainclothes officers from Penticton, members of the Kelowna General Investigation Unit, and the Police Dog Services were involved.
Two people were arrested and taken into custody. One of those arrested received a non-life threatening dog bite and was taken to the hospital for medical care.
A police officer was also injured by what the B.C. RCMP believes to be gunshots fired by another officer. The Mountie was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and has since been released from the hospital.
The IIO is currently reviewing the matter and no further information will be released by police until the investigation is complete.
The matter will also be subject to a workplace incident investigation and the Kelowna General Investigation Section will be leading a concurrent investigation into to the initial suspicious vehicle report.
For more information about the IIO visit www.iiobc.ca.
