Police watchdog investigating Victoria barricade and fire incident after woman suffers critical injuries
Officers responded to reports of an armed person causing a disturbance on Dec. 25
British Columbia's police watchdog is investigating after one person went to hospital following an apartment fire in Victoria on Christmas Day.
Ron MacDonald, chief civilian director of the Independent Investigations Office of B.C., says Victoria police responded at approximately 6 p.m. PT on Wednesday to reports of an armed woman causing a disturbance in a multi-unit residential building downtown.
The Independent Investigations Office investigates any incident where police actions or inactions may have caused harm or death.
MacDonald says the woman had barricaded herself in a suite in the building and a tactical emergency response team was called. The building is located at the 700 block of Pandora Avenue.
As the team was deploying, officers say they saw smoke coming from the suite under the door and called the fire department.
The emergency response team made an emergency entrance, and firefighters extinguished the blaze while tactical officers moved in.
The woman was taken into custody, and taken to hospital.
"We're trying to determine whether [her] life-threatening condition is due to [her] interactions with police or due to other things that occurred within the suite. That's obviously an important part of our investigation."
It is not yet known if the woman lived in the building.
The Victoria Police Department says they are unable to disclose details of the fire or potential causes at this time.
Corrections
- A previous version of this story described the injured person as a man, based on incorrect information from the Independent Investigations Office. In fact, she was a woman.Dec 30, 2019 7:53 PM EST
With files from The Canadian Press and Estefania Duran