Man arrested after allegedly exposing himself at school park in Richmond, B.C.

The park outside McKay Elementary School in Richmond, B.C., is seen in a Google Maps image captured in December 2020.

Vancouver -

Police have arrested a man who was allegedly caught on camera exposing himself at an elementary school park in Richmond, B.C., this week.

The alleged incident happened Monday in the park outside McKay Elementary on Lombard Road, where a witness "observed the man with his genitals exposed and recorded it," Richmond RCMP said in a news release.

The bystander said he'd also seen the suspect speaking to children in the park on a previous occasion.

Authorities couldn’t confirm whether any students were in the vicinity when the alleged incident happened.

"Whether or not he was specifically exposing himself to someone isn't known at this point, but obviously just the fact that he was in a park and exposed is troubling," Cpl. Adriana O'Malley told CTV News.

Authorities said the witness reported the incident to school officials on Wednesday, and the information was passed on to police. Richmond RCMP began patrolling the park on Thursday, and managed to identify and arrest a suspect that afternoon.

While the investigation is still ongoing, police said they believe it was an isolated incident.

"We recognize this type of incident is very concerning to parents and the community as a whole, so being able to identify and arrest this man so quickly is a good thing," RCMP Insp. Michael Cohee said in a statement.

Cohee encouraged anyone who witnesses something troubling to call police "as soon as possible so that we can attend and investigate."

Richmond RCMP said it's possible other people witnessed Monday's incident and haven't come forward. They asked anyone with information on what happened to call the detachment at 604-278-1212. Those who want to remain anonymous can instead contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.