2022. 9. 15. 10:26ㆍ■ 국제/CANADA
Mounties shoot two near Keremeos campsite while enforcing arrest warrants (msn.com)
Mounties shoot two near Keremeos campsite while enforcing arrest warrants
Police are saying little about an incident Tuesday that saw officers shoot two people – one of them fatally – at an unsanctioned campsite west of Keremeos. Mounties say members of the heavily armed Southeast District Emergency Response Team descended u
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Mounties shoot two near Keremeos campsite while enforcing arrest warrants
Joe Fries, Penticton Herald - 2h ago
Police are saying little about an incident Tuesday that saw officers shoot two people – one of them fatally – at an unsanctioned campsite west of Keremeos.
Mounties say members of the heavily armed Southeast District Emergency Response Team descended upon the campsite around 7:45 a.m. to arrest a man and woman on outstanding warrants.
“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. The man died at the scene and the woman was transported to hospital in serious condition,” said a press release issued Tuesday afternoon by the RCMP.
Mounties also called in a bomb squad “due to potential dangers at the location” and closed Highway 3 for several hours. Police said the matter has now been turned over to B.C.’s IIO so “no further information will be released by police.”
It remains unclear what charges led to the warrants being issued, what type of weapon the man allegedly produced and the identities of the two people shot, and the RCMP didn’t respond Wednesday to a request for that information.
The campsite is located about 10 kilometres west of Keremeos off Highway 3 at the edge of the Similkameen River and only about 50 metres from the road.
By the time a Herald reporter visited around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, police were gone and the campsite appeared to be largely intact.
Parked at the site was a blue bus, which appeared to have been converted into a camper. Two small windows at the rear of the bus were smashed and what appeared to be a large blood stain was visible on some bedding inside. A note attached to the front door of the bus stated: “Warning! May explode if tampered with.”
The site itself appeared well-maintained and surrounded by gardens built into the hillside, with an elaborate system of hoses and pumps in place to carry water uphill from the river. Solar panels were placed on top of the bus and a small utility trailer, to which a wind turbine was also attached.
Parked at the entrance to the site was a Hyundai SUV. Its front right tire was flattened by what looked to be a knife puncture, while its passenger side windows had been smashed. The inside of the SUV, which was unlocked, was stuffed with clothing and bags.
Lying in plain view on the vehicle’s dash was a two-page handwritten letter on blue paper. The letter was dated January 2022 and the ink appeared to have faded in places.
“Hi, My name is GI. I am a human being. My rights are a birth right gifted to me by the Creator,” the letter begins.
“I am not a fictional legal entity. I am a human being with rights and I’m fighting for them the best way I know how… by not complying with my own slavery. I will fight to the death for my freedom because my life depends on it, the future of humanity is at stake.
“I do not consent to participate with a corrupt system, I just want to be left alone. How you choose to respond will determine if a traffic violation is worth a life or two.”
The letter goes on to reference a 1997 decision from the Supreme Court of Canada in a civil case involving a teenage girl who was sexually assaulted by her psychiatrist, but then veers off into discussion of human rights.
“Freedom of movement, mobility rights or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country, and to leave the country and return to it. The right includes not only visiting places, but changing the place where the individual resides or works,” states the letter.
Several people who also camp in the area told a Herald reporter the couple had been living at the site for at least a year and received regular visits from police and conservation officers.
The neighbours said the two were friendly and there had been no problems with them.