The Surrey mayor describes the news as “sad and tragic to hear.”
British Columbia’s police watchdog is looking into the Langley death of an off-duty Surrey Police Service (SPS) officer who suffered “a major injury that appears to have been self-inflicted.”
According to the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), police were called to an indoor shooting range in the Township of Langley, which is located about 45 kilometers east of Vancouver, on Wednesday afternoon. The range is located close to the intersection of 98 Avenue and 201 Street, just off the Golden Ears Bridge.
There was a man “reportedly in difficulty,” the Mounties informed the IIO.
The IIO stated in a statement that the individual, who was identified as an off-duty Surrey Police Service officer, “suffered a major injury that appears to have been self-inflicted while police were in the building.”
After that, the man was declared dead.
Links to several resources for people experiencing mental health crises were included in the IIO’s statement.
The “Heartbreaking Day”
The individual was a police officer, according to Surrey Police Service, who also verified his death.
According to its statement, SPS “wants to acknowledge that the officer was a member of our organization and chose a career in law enforcement to help others.”
“We are striving to help the officer’s family, friends, and SPS coworkers at this trying time,” the statement continued.
The RCMP and IIO would handle the investigations and specifics, according to the SPS.
For the officer’s SPS coworkers and former RCMP coworkers, it was a “heartbreaking day,” according to Rick Stewart of the Surrey Police Union.
Brenda Locke, the mayor of Surrey, reiterated these ideas.
In a statement sent through email, Locke stated, “It is sad and tragic to hear about the death of any first responder.”
We send our sincere condolences to the officer’s family, friends, and coworkers at this terribly trying time on behalf of Surrey City Council.
The officer began serving with the Surrey Police Service in May 2022, according to SPS media contact Ian MacDonald.
He added that the cop had been detained and suspended months before.
According to him, “This person was initially detained on August 16th for an investigation that linked to breach of trust” as a result of a Surrey RCMP investigation. As a result, the Surrey Police Service suspended the officer with pay on August 17th.
