Two innocent bystanders were injured when Vancouver police descended on New Westminster Monday afternoon in pursuit of suspects connected to a double homicide and kidnapping in East Vancouver on the weekend.
The incident happened sometime around 4 p.m. in Sapperton on East Eighth Avenue near Richmond Street and Blair Avenue. New Westminster police officers were called to the scene following reports of a vehicle collision, according to New West Staff Sgt. Chad Johnston.
The collision was connected to an ongoing investigation by Vancouver police into a double homicide and kidnapping in East Vancouver.
“We were dealing with multiple suspects, potentially multiple vehicles, we were dealing with an active kidnapping. We had an opportunity to rescue the victim, unfortunately sometimes we can’t wait and our goal is to rescue that victim without having a third homicide on our hands,” Const. Brian Montague, spokesperson for the Vancouver Police Department, told media at a press conference Tuesday evening.
Two passing motorists were struck in the crash, including a woman, who suffered a broken wrist and a man who fled his vehicle when heard flash bangs.
“It is a very narrow window of opportunity that we had, unfortunately, as a result, we had one man who fled his car after it was struck – he heard the flash bangs, obviously got very scared – he is a completely innocent person and one of our dogs grabbed a hold of him,” Montague said.
The man was still in hospital at press deadlines.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO), B.C.’s police watchdog, has confirmed it is investigating the incident. For privacy reasons, the IIO would not say if the bystanders were residents of New Westminster.
Vancouver police have since confirmed three men in their 20s were arrested during the incident in New Westminster and “a number of charges” have been recommended them, Montague said.
Investigators, however, believe there are still suspects at-large.
Vancouver police have been investigating since Saturday night when two bodies were discovered in a home on Dieppe Place near Dieppe Drive. Also found in the home was a four-year-old child who was unharmed but hiding from what police have described as “fairly violent scene,” according to Montague.
Both the Vancouver and New Westminster police departments received some criticism on social media for not releasing any information to the public. Montague admitted it’s unusual for the VPD not to release information right away and thanked the public for its patience, adding there’s a difference between providing information because it’s in the public interest and providing information because the public are interested.
“In situations where the public are not at risk, obviously we have to balance privacy and investigative tactics with the public’s need and right to know,” he said.
Johnston, meanwhile, said the investigation was in the hands of the VPD and the New West department were only on-hand to assist and liaise with Vancouver officers.
“Our goal of course is to keep the citizens of New Westminster safe and secure, which includes keeping them informed and up to date. Unfortunately, due to this dynamic event and subsequent investigation, public updates were not made available as things were unfolding,” he wrote in an email when asked why the local department did not put out any public safety alerts at the time of the incident.
It’s now up to Crown counsel to decide what, if any, charges are laid against the three suspects in custody.
More information on the IIO investigation was expected to be released after Record deadlines.
