B.C.’s police watchdog and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team have been called in to probe the death of two men in Burnaby, one of which was shot by police.
Burnaby RCMP, including members of the K9 squad, descended on a home on Frances Street around 6:50 a.m. Friday after receiving reports of shots fired. People living on Frances Street reported hearing multiple shots and a woman screaming.
After determining a suspect was believed to be in a two-level home, police say they entered into negotiations with a man inside but entered the home after the possibility “additional individuals’ lives may be at risk,” said Sgt. Annie Linteau.
Linteau said after shots were fired the suspect was pronounced deceased and another man was found dead inside the home.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIOBC) confirms it is probing an officer-involved fatal shooting, and IHIT has assumed the investigation into the initial male victim’s death.
An upstairs tenant was safely removed from the residence, said Linteau.
CTV Morning Live reporter Nafeesa Karim reported hearing a flash bang being deployed, followed by three popping noises around 8 a.m.
IIOBC is now investigating the actions of the Burnaby RCMP in the double fatality.
“There were police negotiators here, there were police agencies here, there was a police response. There were a lot of officers and things happened really quickly so who shot first, how many officers were involved, these are questions our investigators will be asking,” IIO spokeswoman Kellie Kilpatrick said.
Fatal officer involved shooting in #Burnaby. @iiobc has been called in. I spoke to residents who heard multiple shots pic.twitter.com/2OoSqI9ydC
— Nafeesa Karim (@nafeesakarim) September 18, 2015
IIO has been notified of fatal officer-involved shooting in Burnaby. Our investigators are deployed & update will be provided in due course.
— IIOBC (@iiobc) September 18, 2015