A teenager was shot and killed by police in East Vancouver early Saturday.
The Independent Investigations Office confirmed that one man was dead following a shooting by a Vancouver police officer in Clinton Park. Police later said he was 18 years old.
Const. Tania Visintin said Vancouver police officers responded at about 2:15 a.m., after a 911 caller reported gunshots near the playground in Clinton Park, near Grant and Penticton streets.
When officers arrived, they encountered a young man with a firearm. Shots were fired, and police shot the man, said Visintin.
He was taken to hospital, where he died.
Police said no officers were hurt during the incident and they were unable to find any victims tied to the 911 call that brought them to the park.
Independent Investigations Office of B.C., the province’s civilian oversight body that probes police-involved deaths, is now investigating the shooting.
A statement from the office said investigators are looking into the shooting to determine what role Vancouver police played in the man’s death.
The park, at East 1st Avenue, was cordoned off by police tape Saturday. Yellow markers were set up near a large tree. What appeared to be a handgun was seen on the grass.
— With files from Lora Grindlay and The Canadian Press
