'Your children could've died': VPD officer scolds mother accused of leaving kids in hot car

A video that is trending on the internet shows a Vancouver police officer scolding a mother accused of leaving her two young children in a car under the sweltering sun. 

In the video, the officer can be heard yelling "do you understand what you've done? Your children could've died."

VPD officer scolds mother accused of leaving kids in hot car

7 years ago

Duration 1:05

A viral video caught a Vancouver police officer yelling at a mother accused of leaving her two young kids in a car in a grocery store parking lot for 20 minutes.

Just before 4 p.m., July 3, an emergency response team responding to complaints attended a grocery store parking lot on Grandview Highway.

VPD Chief Const. Adam Palmer said police received multiple 911 calls from people who said two young children were "in distress in a vehicle" and the car alarm was going off.

Police said a girl, 6, and and a three-year-old boy were left unattended in the car. 

Another video, shows two people confronting the woman as she returns to her car.

She can be heard saying the sunroof was cracked open and she had only been gone for five minutes. 

Police say based on footage from the grocery store, she was in the store for 20 minutes.

Palmer stood by his officer and the video that shows the officer berating the mother for her actions.

"I've known that officer for many years. He is a highly respected member of the police department, hard working, dedicated officer. I know he has children of his own," he said.

"He was trying to convey to that woman the seriousness of what she had done with her children," Palmer said. 

The case has been handed over to the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

No charges have been laid.

Watch the VPD news conference. The incident is referenced at 0:40. 

The incident has prompted police to remind the public of the dangers of leaving children or pets in a hot car. 

"The interior of a car heats up dramatically higher than what the outside temperature is and leaving any sort of human or animal in a car for that long is very serious business," said Palmer.

Last week, officers smashed a car window to save an overheated dog.