IIO Provides an Update and Seeks Additional Witnesses to Incident in Dawson Creek (2024-135)

INFORMATION BULLETIN
Independent Investigations Office
For Immediate Release

Surrey, B.C. — The Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia is seeking additional witnesses to an incident that occurred in Dawson Creek (IIO 2024-135).

The IIO confirms that the affected person in this incident, the man who was arrested near the 7-Eleven in Dawson Creek, was pronounced deceased on June 21, 2024.

The IIO is asking that anyone who saw any part of the June 20, 2024 incident between the man and police to please contact the IIO to speak to an investigator. The IIO would specifically like to speak to several people who were at the 7-Eleven during the incident:

• A man wearing glasses, an orange or yellow baseball-style hat, a red shirt with possibly a blue shirt underneath, a dark leather jacket, and blue jeans.
• A man with shoulder-length hair and a mustache wearing a black baseball-style hat, a dark-coloured shirt with a tan or beige button overshirt/jacket, and dark-coloured pants or jeans. The man had a pair of sun or regular glasses on his hat, and another pair hanging from his shirt.
• A man wearing glasses with a goatee, a dark-coloured “dry goods prod.” shirt with a dark-coloured unzipped hoodie on top, dark pants or jeans and drives a red Ford pickup truck.
• A man with short brown hair and a clean-shaven face, wearing a black or dark-coloured t-shirt, and dark jeans or pants who drives a red Nissan pickup truck with body-matched bumpers and hard canopy.
• A man wearing a dark-coloured baseball-style hat with sunglasses on top, a long-sleeved, light-coloured striped buttoned shirt, and blue jeans who drives a silver Ford Explorer.

Drivers of the vehicles may have been from either BC or Alberta.

The IIO thanks the two witnesses who responded to the IIO’s initial media release, and members of the public who assisted in locating them.

The IIO is asking that any witnesses that have not already provided a statement, or who have other video footage of the incident, to please contact the IIO at our Witness Line toll-free at 1-855-446-8477 or via the contact form on the iiobc.ca website.

Incident Summary

The incident began at about 7:45 a.m. on June 20, 2024, when police responded to a report of several people with weapons near the intersection of 8 Street and 104 Avenue. While three people were arrested at that location, a fourth person, a man, was located and arrested near a convenience store close to the intersection of 8 Street and 105 Avenue.

The man sustained serious injuries during the incident and was taken to a hospital for treatment. Despite medical intervention, the man was pronounced deceased on June 21, 2024.

Background

The IIO is the Independent civilian oversight agency of the police in British Columbia. It investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.