Man dead, woman in hospital after being shot by police near Keremeos

Investigators from B.C.'s Independent Investigations Office are seen in this file photo from the IIO.

One man has died and a woman is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after being shot by police near Keremeos Tuesday morning.

Officers were trying to arrest the pair for "outstanding warrants" around 7:45 a.m. along Highway 3, the RCMP said in a statement.

"While attempting to enforce the warrants the man allegedly produced a weapon and was shot by police. The incident continued and the woman was also shot as a result," it reads.

The RCMP Explosive Disposal Unit was also called in, according to the statement, due to "potential dangers at the location." No further details were provided. Highway 3 was completely closed for roughly three hours, and when it reopened one eastbound lane remained blocked off about 13 kilometres west of Keremeos.

The Independent Investigations Office has been called in to probe the shooting, as is the case whenever someone is seriously injured or killed during an interaction with police.

Last month, the IIO's Civilian Director Ronald McDonald said the office has seen a significant spike in the number of officer-involved shootings in 2022. The office is called to investigate an average of seven shootings each fiscal year. Since April 1 of 2022 there have now been 18.

"We've seen a tremendous increase. Now, that's across the province," he told CTV News.

This spike, McDonald noted, comes at a time when his staff is already overloaded. Investigations into the vast majority of incidents have not been completed. That makes it impossible for him to definitively identify or explain any trends.

"We haven't been able to determine who was at fault for what, whether or not the actions are justified, but in a broader sense -- what's led to the situation developing," he said.

However, McDonald does say that the presence of a gun or another "significant weapon" is something he has noted in a "very unusual number of cases."