Slocan shooting suspect dead; IIO called in
Posted October 14, 2014 6:40 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
KELOWNA (NEWS1130) – RCMP say the suspect in last week’s shooting incident in the community of Slocan is dead.
Supt. Frank Smart says there was an “interaction” between 45-year-old Peter DeGroot and two members of the RCMP’s emergency response team.
He says the province’s police watchdog has been called in, as it automatically is when someone is killed or severely injured as a result of police involvement.
He also says residents are no longer in danger.
Police say DeGroot exchanged gunfire with officers on Thursday following a dispute the suspect had with another man. Mounties also say DeGroot ran into the woods, prompting a search that has involved dozens of officers.
Antonia Crossley is co-owner of the Harold Street Cafe in Slocan and is sad about how this has ended. “My husband and I, last year, we lost a son. We know exactly what it’s like for the family. I feel really sick about it. I feel for the family.”
“Peter obviously is somebody’s brother, somebody’s son, and somebody’s good friend… I just thought, ‘Does it have to end like this?'”
She’s surprised police found DeGroot. “I just thought maybe he’s long gone. But when they found him and he ended up dead? That’s really shocking to me.”
Several of Crossly’s customers were talking about DeGroot’s death.
“One of them was just devastated. They said ‘Oh my goodness.’ None of these people knew him, personally. But they said ‘This is just awful,'” she tells us.
The Independent Investigations Office has been called in.
