Wanted man had a shootout with police in Merritt | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
Subscribe

Would you like to subscribe to our newsletter?

Kamloops News

Wanted man had a shootout with police in Merritt

A wanted man got into a shootout with police in Merritt, and now BC’s police watchdog is investigating.

RCMP officers located a wanted man driving a stolen vehicle in Merritt around 12 p.m. on Sept. 12, according to a press release from police.

The man refused to stop for police and drove recklessly through Merritt towards a forest service road.

Once the vehicle got onto the forest service road police lost sight of it. Police decided to set up containment and use RCMP Air Services to search for the wanted man.

Shortly after, there were emergency calls from workers in the area about a vehicle going down Midday Valley Road shooting at them.

Officers confronted the man at a roadblock, and they were shot at. RCMP fired back and hit the man, then rammed the vehicle until it was disabled.

The suspect was taken into custody and airlifted to hospital for serious injuries. A female passenger who was treated for injuries and released.

The wanted man is being held on outstanding warrants and has a court appearance next week.

Merritt RCMP are investigating the stolen vehicle, shootout with police and the alleged shots fired at workers along the road.

The Independent Investigations Office, the civilian body in charge of investigating police use of force, is investigating the shootout as well.

Since the incident is under investigation RCMP said it will not be releasing any more information.

The Independent Investigations Office of BC is a civilian-led police oversight agency responsible for conducting investigations into incidents of death or serious harm that may have been the result of the actions or inactions of a police officer, whether on or off duty.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

News from © iNFOnews, 2024
iNFOnews

  • Popular vernon News
View Site in: Desktop | Mobile