Burnaby Mounties had to shoot an injured deer that played havoc with traffic on Gaglardi Way Tuesday.
SFU security got a call at about 11:40 a.m. that a deer had been struck on the road between University Drive and Broadway and was posing a hazard to vehicles driving up and down Burnaby Mountain.
Security personnel were dispatched to the scene to control traffic, according to SFU communications associate Justin Wong.
“They had their patrol vehicle parked on the side of the road with its amber emergency lights flashing when our vehicle was struck from behind by another car,” he said.
Emergency vehicles then arrived on the scene, and a woman was transported to hospital with minor injuries, according to Burnaby RCMP.
Gaglardi was briefly shut down in both directions.
The injured deer, meanwhile, had slumped into a water-filled ditch nearby on the side of the east side of Gaglardi.
“It was quite traumatic for everyone,” said Burnaby resident John Preissl, a local streamkeeper who had been taking photos of construction at the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain facility nearby.
Preissl, who is of Squamish and Leq a mel First Nations extraction, said he’d asked RCMP officers at the scene if he could say prayers and perform a smudging ceremony for the injured deer but was denied.
Officers told him to leave the scene, he said, and he walked about 400 metres away to say prayers and perform the ceremony at a distance.
He then heard three shots ring out, he said.
“It was really sad,” he said.
RCMP said the deer was euthanized in consultation with the B.C. conservation service and that Preissl had been asked to move away for safety reasons.
“For public safety reasons, the male was asked to maintain a safe distance while the deer was being euthanized,” Cpl. Daniela Panesar told the NOW in an emailed statement. “Should the male have any concern about his interaction with police, then we ask that he contact the Burnaby RCMP Professional Standards Unit.”
