VANCOUVER - Mounties and the province's police watchdog were called to the Township of Langley Wednesday morning following the death of a man who may have been intoxicated.
Someone called 911 at around 3 a.m. Wednesday, the RCMP said, but the call was "abandoned." Attempts were made to call the number back, but when no one answered, members of the Langley RCMP were sent to the location where the call came from.
When they arrived in the area near 72nd Avenue and 208A Street, they found a man believed to be under the influence of drugs, the RCMP said. The man was outside.
Officers called Emergency Health Services, and tried to take him into custody.
The RCMP says that during their attempt, there was some type of physical altercation. Further details on the altercation were not made public.
"After the arrest, the officers noticed that the man was losing consciousness," Mounties said in a statement hours after the incident.
While EHS was on the way, officers performed CPR and provided other medical assistance, the RCMP said. The man did not survive, however.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. was notified of the incident, as it is in any case where a civilian dies or is seriously harmed during an interaction with police.
The watchdog is called regardless of if there is any allegation of wrongdoing.
In a statement, the office provided no further details on the incident, except to say the man was declared dead about an hour and a half after the 911 call brought police to the scene.
This article is developing and will be updated if more information becomes available.
