Date: Thursday, October 21st, 2021

File: 21-42352

Victoria, BC – A VicPD officer who was injured responding to a call yesterday morning then assisted in a life-saving intervention for a person in crisis while leaving the hospital.

The officer was transported to hospital after being punched several times while responding to a man making homicidal threats. Patrol officers attended a motel in the 100-block of Gorge Road East after a man called police, threatened to kill people, and advised that a deceased person was on his balcony. Attending officers recognized the man was in the midst of a mental health crisis and moved to apprehend him under the Mental Health Act after attempts to de-escalate him using crisis intervention techniques were unsuccessful. The man fought with police and officers deployed a Conductive Energy Weapon (CEW) which was not effective. Several additional police units attended and apprehended the man without further incident. He was transported to hospital for a mental health assessment. The officer was transported to hospital, where he was treated for a concussion and released.

The officer was unable to complete his shift due his injuries. He was leaving the hospital with a uniformed officer in a marked VicPD vehicle to be returned to headquarters, when they observed a woman in crisis on the Helmcken Road overpass. Recognizing the immediate, life-threatening danger, the officers stopped and began to speak with the woman. While the two officers spoke with the woman, additional officers from West Shore RCMP and Saanich Police, as well as additional VicPD officers, attended.

When the woman in crisis moved to harm herself, the VicPD officers intervened, physically pulling her from danger. She was taken into custody under the Mental Health Act by West Shore RCMP officers, and transported to hospital. No one was physically injured in this second incident.

The injured VicPD officer was transported to headquarters to secure his police equipment and returned home to recover from his injuries.

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