A prominent B.C. First Nations leader is calling for sa国际传媒渕assive changesa国际传媒� after police shot an Indigenous woman multiple times on Vancouver Island Saturday in the third such incident for her community in less than a year.
sa国际传媒淲e need to find solutions now. Is it lack of police training in de-escalation? We donsa国际传媒檛 know that. Is it racism? We donsa国际传媒檛 know thatsa国际传媒e have so few facts, but what we do know is we have to stop these shootings now, today,sa国际传媒� Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council president Dr. Judith Sayers told Black Press Media in the wake of the shooting in the Ucluelet First Nation community of Hitacu.
A B.C. RCMP statement indicated that Ucluelet RCMP officers received a report of a disturbance and a male in need of medical assistance on May 8 around 5:12 p.m.
sa国际传媒淩esponding officers entered the home and encountered a woman with a weapon. Shots were fired by the police officers. The woman suffered gunshot wounds and was transported to hospital by BC Emergency Health Services,sa国际传媒� the statement reads. sa国际传媒淎 male was also transported to hospital for treatment. No one else was physically injured in this incident.sa国际传媒�
In a post to its Facebook page on May 8, The Ucluelet First Nation government advised that a serious incident had occurred in the community.
sa国际传媒淔ull details are currently under investigation. A statement for public information will be issued when complete details have been provided. There have been no fatalities, nor life-threatening injuries to those involved,sa国际传媒� the post reads.
Police say the shooting is being investigated by the Island District General Investigative Services and the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia.
This is the third time in the past year that a Nuu-chah-nulth member has been shot by police. Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation woman Chantel Moore, 26, was shot and killed by police during a wellness check in Edmundston, New Brunswick, on June 4, 2020. Julian Jones, 28, was shot and killed by RCMP in the Tla-o-qui-aht community of Opitsaht on Feb. 27, 2021.
Sayers said that she and Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council vice president Mariah Charleson have met with the B.C. RCMP and provincial leadership to propose changes to the B.C. Police Act.
sa国际传媒淓ver since last June when (Chantel Moore) was shot, we have been working on elevating the issues of police shootings, wellness checks and working with communities as much as we can,sa国际传媒� she said, adding that NTC leadership met with B.C. RCMP Deputy Commissioner Jennifer Strachan after the shooting of Julian Jones.
sa国际传媒淲e formed a committee to start looking at ways that we can work together and try to stop these shootings. One of the core objectives for us is to stop these shootings, so Isa国际传媒檓 pretty shocked and appalled that we had another shooting on Saturday afternoon.sa国际传媒�
She said she had spoken with the IIO on Monday morning and planned to speak with RCMP leadership that afternoon.
sa国际传媒淲e definitely have a huge concern as Nuu-chah-nulth as to what is happening with policesa国际传媒esa国际传媒檙e not letting this go by any means,sa国际传媒� she said.
sa国际传媒淥ur communities are devastated and theysa国际传媒檙e worried about are they in danger of RCMP coming onto the reserve and shooting them. The impacts of these shootings is just reverberating amongst all the members. We have to do something and thatsa国际传媒檚 what wesa国际传媒檙e trying to do. Wesa国际传媒檙e trying to find the best way forward while theysa国际传媒檙e doing the investigations to find out what really went onsa国际传媒e need to get to the root of what is actually happening with the RCMP and our communities.sa国际传媒�
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