VANCOUVER
Vancouver

    • Bear euthanized after Coquitlam residents fed it watermelon: RCMP

    Share

    Conservation officers and police are warning residents not to feed bears after one was put down in Coquitlam earlier this week.

    In a Friday news release, the Coquitlam RCMP says it and the BC Conservation Officer Service were called to Kingston Street and Galloway Avenue on Wednesday for a report of an injured bear surrounded by a “large crowd.”

    Residents had fed the bear watermelon, and some people had reportedly been feeding the animal for three days, police said.

    According to the BCCOS, the black bear had a history of “conflict behaviour” in the neighbourhood, including entering garages to eat garbage.

    “Due to the risk to public safety, it was not a candidate for relocation or rehabilitation and was humanely put down by conservation officers,” the release reads.

    “Feeding bears is a dangerous activity that puts public safety at risk. We ask the public to never feed or approach bears and take steps to help prevent bear conflicts,” said Danielle Bell with the BCCOS, in the release. “Don’t give bears an opportunity to access garbage and other non-natural food, and help keep the community, and the bears, safe.”

    As of June, the BCCOS says, anyone caught feeding “dangerous” wildlife such as bears, cougars and coyotes, can face fines of up to $575, but no such fines were handed out in relation to this recent incident.

    According data obtained by animal welfare charity The Fur-Bearers, conservation officers killed 73 black bears in Coquitlam between 2015 and 2022. The organization was unable to obtain last year’s numbers for cities that fell outside the top 10.

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    A man who has brain damage has a murder conviction reversed after a 34-year fight

    A man who has brain damage and was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a shopkeeper in London had his decades-old conviction quashed Wednesday by an appeals court troubled by the possibility police elicited a false confession from a mentally vulnerable man. Oliver Campbell, who suffered cognitive impairment as a baby and struggles with his concentration and memory, was 21 when he was jailed in 1991 after being convicted based partly on admissions his lawyer said were coerced. “The fight for justice is finally over after nearly 34 years," Campbell said. “I can start my life an innocent man.” Campbell, now in his 50s, was convicted of the robbery and murder of Baldev Hoondle, who was shot in the head in his shop in the Hackney area of east London in July 1990. He had a previous appeal rejected in 1994 and was released from prison in 2002 on conditions that could have returned him to prison if he got into trouble. Defense lawyer Michael Birnbaum said police lied to Campbell and “badgered and bullied” him into giving a false confession by admitting he pulled the trigger in an accident. He was interviewed more than a dozen times, including sessions without either a lawyer or other adult present. His learning disability put him “out of his depth” and he was "simply unable to do justice to himself,” Birnbaum said. He said the admissions were nonsense riddled with inconsistencies that contradicted facts in the case. At trial, he testified that he was not involved in the robbery and had been somewhere else though he couldn't remember where. A co-defendant, Eric Samuels, who has since died, pleaded guilty to the robbery and was sentenced to five years in prison. At the time, he told his lawyer Campbell was not the gunman and later told others Campbell wasn’t with him during the robbery. Lawyers continued to advocate for Campbell that he wasn't the killer and his case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission which investigates potential injustices. The three judges on the Court of Appeal rejected most of Birnbaum's grounds for appeal but said they were troubled by the conviction in light of a new understanding of the reliability of admissions from someone with a mental disability. The panel quashed the conviction as 'unsafe,' and refused to order a retrial.

    Shopping Trends

    The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.

    Vancouver Island

    Kelowna

    Edmonton

    Calgary

    Lethbridge

    Winnipeg

    Regina

    Saskatoon

    Toronto

    Montreal

    Ottawa

    Atlantic

    London

    Kitchener

    Northern Ontario

    N.L.

    Stay Connected
    Follow CTV News