A 16-year-old boy has been shot and killed by a Creston RCMP officer.
The teen died after an officer attempted a traffic stop on a pickup truck parked in a driveway in the 3400 block of View Road at 3:35 a.m. on Wednesday.
According to police, when the officer got out of the vehicle the truck allegedly reversed and struck the officer, who then fired his weapon.
The truck left the scene but was found about 10 minutes later near Highway 3A and Mather Road in a ditch with the driver suffering from a gunshot wound.
Police and Emergency Health Services provided medical assistance, but the driver died at the scene. His name and hometown have not been released.
Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said the officer involved sustained undisclosed injuries and was taken to hospital. “The nature of their injuries or their status is not being released to protect their privacy,” he said.
RCMP say they won’t comment further.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of British Columbia, which looks into incidents of death or serious injury at the hands of police, has been called in.
The IIO said that aside from the details released by police, “no other information concerning the interaction between police and the truck driver has been independently verified … The particulars of what occurred in the driveway are the subject of the IIO investigation.”
The IIO is asking anyone with relevant information or video footage about the incident to contact their Witness Line toll-free at 1-855-446-8477 or via the contact form on their website.
The incident resulted in the closure of Highway 3A north of Creston, between Lower Wynndel Road and View Road, for most of Wednesday although a detour was in effect. The road then re-opened to single lane traffic and was cleared Thursday afternoon.