B.C.’s police watchdog is investigating the death of an off-duty Richmond RCMP officer.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of B.C. said Friday in a media release that it is “investigating the circumstances surrounding” the officer's death.
Calls to 911 around 9:15 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 21 reported a woman considering self-harm, according to the IIO. Vancouver Police officers found the woman’s body on the sidewalk of the Moray Bridge in Richmond just after 10 p.m.
“She had suffered what appeared to be self-inflicted injuries,” the IIO said in a statement.
According to the IIO, further details won’t be released at this time in order to “protect the integrity of the investigation.” The IIO did not release the name of the officer who died.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the IIO witness line at 1-855-446-8477.
The IIO, an independent civilian agency, oversees police in B.C. It investigates all officer incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.
Richmond RCMP's officer-in-charge, Supt. Will Ng, confirmed in a statement earlier this week that the BC Coroners Service is also investigating the officer’s death.
He said that the detachment is grieving and supports are in place for the officer's family and RCMP members.
“We continue to deal with the overwhelming shock and grief over the loss of one of our Richmond RCMP police officers,” Ng said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Their family has asked for privacy so we have not discussed the loss publicly. However, information around the death has been shared with the greater RCMP family so we can all come together to deal with the tragic news about one of our own.”
If you are in crisis, help is available:
- Call 310-6789 to be connected to the crisis centre nearest you (no area code required)
- Crisis Services Canada: crisisservicescanada.ca
- British Columbia: crisislines.bc.ca
- Vancouver and surrounding areas: crisiscentre.bc.ca
- Vancouver Island: vicrisis.ca
- VictimLinkBC: 1-800-563-0808
