IIO Deploys to Incident at Surrey Gateway SkyTrain Station (2017-022)

UPDATE: The IIO released jurisdiction of this case on March 20, 2017 as the IIO investigation concluded there was no connection between the injuries suffered by the affected person and the actions of police.

INFORMATION BULLETIN
Independent Investigations Office
For Immediate Release

Surrey – The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. has deployed investigators to an incident involving Metro Vancouver Transit Police in Surrey.

At approximately 1:20 p.m. on Wednesday March 15, 2017, Transit Police officers were on patrol at Gateway Station in Surrey. According to police, a female attempted to leave the station via an emergency exit. Upon seeing police officers at the exit, the female ran away from the officers, jumped from the guideway to the ground and suffered injuries.

IIO Investigators deployed to the scene and have conducted tasks including obtaining physical evidence, identifying civilian witnesses and reviewing CCTV. Transit Police are responsible for any concurrent investigation.

The initial focus of the IIO investigation will be to determine if there is a connection between the injuries suffered by the female and the actions of police. If there is no connection then the IIO will release jurisdiction, if there is a connection the IIO will continue investigating. Since September 2012, the IIO has been notified of over 1200 incidents. The IIO has continued investigating in approximately 23% of these incidents; jurisdiction was released in the remainder.

Any potential witnesses are asked to call the IIO at 1-855-446-8477.

No further information or updates will be provided at this time.

Marten Youssef
Acting Director, Public Engagement & Policy
Marten.Youssef@iiobc.ca

Aidan Buckley
Communications & Stakeholder Relations Liaison
Aidan.Buckley@iiobc.ca