Woman injured during police encounter in Valleyview store; IIO looking for witnesses

KAMLOOPS — B.C.’s police watchdog is searching for witnesses to a violent interaction between a woman and Kamloops RCMP officers in Valleyview earlier this week. 

According to information provided by Kamloops RCMP, the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) says an off-duty officer saw a woman in a store on the 2100-block of Trans-Canada Highway East striking items on the shelves with an “edged weapon.” 

In a news release issued Thursday (May 7), the IIO says the off-duty officer followed the woman into another store on the property and tried to intervene. On-duty officers then arrived at the second store at around 5:30 p.m. Monday (May 4) when police used “less lethal force options” that injured the woman. 

The IIO says the woman was then sent to hospital but left against medical advice. RCMP later found the woman and took her back into custody. She was medically assessed and found to have sustained injuries that meet the threshold for notifying the IIO.