Penticton RCMP shoots 9-1-1 caller with less lethal round

One man was injured in a Penticton arrest after calling 9-1-1 to report a stabbing yesterday.

No one was stabbed, but a man was shot by police with a 40 mm "less lethal" round and taken to hospital as Penticton RCMP tried taking him into custody, according to a BC RCMP news release.

It began when police were called to Skaha Beach around 5 a.m., Aug. 12, for a stabbing report. The 9-1-1 caller said an armed suspect was approaching him, but the call was dropped, RCMP said.

When officers got to the scene, there was no victim or assailant to be found, according to the BC RCMP news release.

The man called again while officers were still at the beach to report the stabbing suspect was inside the public washroom. 

"(The) officer went to the washrooms and found a man with his face covered. The man refused to comply with police directions and a less lethal use of force 40 mm ballistic round was deployed which struck the man," the news release reads.

He was apprehended and taken to hospital. The province's police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office of BC, was called to investigation the circumstances around what's described as a serious injury.

The watchdog will investigate whether the use of force was necessary given the circumstances.

Investigators do not believe there was a stabbing at all that morning.

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