Police watchdog investigating officer-involved shooting in West Kelowna
Credit to Author: Scott Brown| Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2019 21:31:04 +0000
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. is investigating after a man brandishing garden shears was shot by West Kelowna RCMP early Friday morning near Bear Creek Provincial Park.
In a statement released by the RCMP, West Kelowna RCMP responded to a complaint of a man jumping in a front of a vehicle along Westside Road around 1 a.m. Police say the man tried to hit the vehicle with an object.
When officers arrived they encountered a man carrying garden shears.
“While attempting to arrest the individual, an interaction occurred and the male was shot by police; however he fled and entered Okanagan Lake,” the RCMP said in its release.
The man ended up on a log boom in the lake and stayed there for hours as police negotiated with him.
RCMP officers in a boat and on the water finally took him into custody around 7:20 a.m. without further incident.
The man, whose name was not released, received immediate medical assistance police say his injures are believed to be non-life threatening.
The IIO B.C., which investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, has taken over the investigation.