B.C.’s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.
The incident unfolded at a home on 180A Street in Surrey, where officers responded to a report of a disturbance around 4:40 a.m.
In a news release, a spokesperson for the B.C. RCMP said officers arrived to learn the woman was “reportedly holding a weapon” next to the child.
“While interacting with the woman, an officer fired their weapon, striking her,” Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said, in the release. “There were no reported injuries to the child.”
Paramedics were already on scene prior to the shooting, and tried to provide emergency medical care to the woman before she died at the property, authorities said.
The RCMP did not specify whether officers recovered a weapon from the home.
Asked whether the toddler was still in the room when the officer opened fire, Clark told CTV News he could not provide any further details while the incident is under investigation by the Independent Investigations Office.
In an email, an IIO spokesperson said she could not confirm whether the child witnessed the shooting either, as the investigation is in its “very early stages.”
Outside the home on Thursday afternoon, Gaston Ntabaza told CTV News the woman who was shot was a friend of his from church.
“We just want justice to be done accordingly,” said Ntabaza. “We would hope (when) someone calls the police, that they have all the tools to de-escalate the situation.”
In a separate news release, the IIO said its initial investigate steps will involve gathering details about what happened to determine “if the force used by police was necessary, reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances.”
The watchdog is tasked with investigating all officer-involved incidents that result in death or serious harm, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing on the part of police.
With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Ben Nesbit