The province’s police watchdog has been dispatched to Burnaby to investigate whether any action or inaction by Mounties led to the death of a man.
The victim was spotted by Burnaby RCMP around 4 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to a RCMP press release.
Officers were in the area at 3:43 a.m. responding to an unrelated complaint near the Eileen Dailly rec centre at North Willingdon Avenue and Triumph Street. A short while later, police caught sight of someone sitting in the driver seat of a car in a parking lot in the 200 block of Willingdon Avenue, according to the release.
“A rifle was allegedly observed on the man's lap. Attempts to verbally engage the man were unsuccessful, and police requested the assistance of the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team,” read the release.
The response team arrived at the scene and confirmed the man in the car was dead.
Because Mounties were at the scene of a fatality, the RCMP has called in the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) to investigate any link between “police action or inaction and the death of the man,” noted the release.
The IIO confirmed it is investigating the incident.
Investigators with the IIO are searching for evidence at the scene, reviewing available CCTV footage, interviewing witnesses and officers. Any potential witnesses are asked to call the IIO at 1-855-446-8477.
Burnaby RCMP won’t be commenting on this incident at this time.
The local detachment closed Willingdon, between Hastings Street and Penzance Drive, and all streets north of Hastings, between Rosser and Beta, for several hours Wednesday morning. The area surrounding Eileen Dailly remains closed.
