Man shot during traffic stop in Saanich Friday night: police watchdog

The scene of a police incident on Patricia Bay Highway on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Image credit: Michele/Twitter)

A man was shot and seriously injured during an interaction with the Saanich Police on Patricia Bay Highway (Highway 17) Friday night, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) says.

At approximately 9 p.m., Saanich Police officers conducted a traffic stop with a driver in the 4100 block of the highway for an investigation into the breach of a conditional sentence order.

During the traffic stop, the driver was shot. He was taken to the hospital, underwent surgery and is currently in stable condition in the ICU, according to the IIO.

The IIO, the province’s civilian-led police oversight agency, is now investigating the incident “to confirm the details of what occurred during the traffic stop and to determine what role, if any, police actions or inactions played in the man’s injuries,” they write in a release.

The highway was closed in both directions between McKenzie Avenue and Quadra Street until around 6 a.m. Saturday morning.

At 10 p.m. Friday, the Saanich Police Department released a statement notifying the public that the highway was closed.

One hour later, they wrote that one person was in custody after a police-involved incident and that there was no longer any danger to the public.

They also wrote that during the incident, officers told drivers in the surrounding area to seek shelter until it was deemed safe for them to leave.

“Police telling drivers to leave everything behind, and evacuate as far away as possible, and go to the safest place we can get to,” a person who was driving on the highway at the time of the incident wrote on Twitter.

“In my group of evacuees, we heard what sounded like a gunshot or flash-bang,” they wrote shortly later.

Saanich Police released a statement Saturday saying that the IIO is now leading the investigation, and confirmed that a police-involved shooting occurred.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the IIO at 1-855-446-8477 or via their email contact form at www.iiobc.ca.