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“The RCMP is totally downplaying what really happened,” one witness said. ‘It was a hit and run. He fled the site ”
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June 6, 2022 • 1 hour ago • 4 minutes of reading • 439 comments The RCMP of the Mission says it is fortunate that no one was “seriously injured” when a truck driver hit four people with his vehicle. Pedestrians were among a group walking along Lougheed Highway to the site of the former St. Louis residential school. Mary. The motorcyclist did not remain at the scene. The van that is believed to have hit the crowd is shown. Photo by Robert Jago
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UPDATE
MISSION, BRITISH COLUMBIA – RCMP says driver of a truck that allegedly ran over four people walking in a residential school in Mission, BC, has turned himself in to police, the police said Monday. Canadian press. Mounties said in a press release that the 77-year-old man is not in custody, but is cooperating with investigators and his truck has been confiscated for examination.
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More will come.
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On Sunday, witnesses expressed outrage over the police response to an incident the day before in Mission, BC, when the driver of a van entered a group marching to raise awareness about First Nations treatment in residential schools, and injured five people.
Although the RCMP said there was no indication that it was a targeted attack, instead of characterizing the incident as a dangerous collision, officers stated that “an impatient driver (who) tried to avoid a group of people walking down the road. ”in a press release.
“The RCMP is totally downplaying what really happened,” said Garett Dan of Abbotsford, BC, who was involved in the march on the site of St. Mary, where her parents attended.
“They shouldn’t have sugar on anything like that. It was a success. He ran away from the scene.”
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Attending a march at St Mary’s Residential School in Mission, BC. The truck drove through the crowd. Someone open. The old Chevy did. He appeared to point it at the average pic.twitter.com/FUixQVgw1m
– Robert Jago (@rjjago) June 4, 2022
The driver of the van drove to the side of the road in an apparent attempt to avoid traffic, he said. One of the organizers of the march stopped him.
“He didn’t like it and suddenly he decided to hit him with his truck,” Dan said. “He went into it. I was looking in my rearview mirror to see what was going on and it was clear how the day was driving towards him.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, just because you’re in a hurry doesn’t mean you can shrug your shoulders and try to drive in a crowd.”
The driver allegedly hit more protesters further along the road.
Chris Robertson helped organize the event, the March for Residential School Recognition, which was organized by the BC chapter of the Crazy Indians Brotherhood, a drug and alcohol support group.
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He said children and the elderly were involved, but none were affected.
Robertson heard a truck hit one of the traffic control flags in the back of the gear and then saw the truck go up his shoulder toward him.
Several organizers demanded that it be stopped.
“I turned around and looked back at him and at that moment he stepped on the accelerator and started towards us,” Robertson said.
One of his friends went under the truck and rolled, while another went through the hood, he said. The truck’s bumper hit Robertson’s knee as it passed. The driver stopped briefly. Some water bottles were thrown at his truck and he left, he said.
“If it had been any of us (driving), we would already be in jail. They would have charged us with attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon … the book would have already been thrown at us,” Robertson said.
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If that man’s skin tone was a different color, he would be in prison
Chris Robertson
“If that man’s skin tone were a different color, he would be in prison. That’s what our people are talking about when we say white privilege. Yes, but when things like this happen, we’re talking about it. “
Police were called around 12:30 p.m., Const. Harrison Mohr, a media relations officer for the Mission Detachment.
“It looks like this driver was upset because his trip was delayed by a few minutes and he was driving in oncoming traffic to try to get around the group,” Mohr said.
“When he was confronted with oncoming traffic, he drove his vehicle into the middle of the group until the cars passed, then he withdrew and passed again. In doing so, he struck several members of the group. Fortunately, none of them were seriously injured and the march was able to continue as planned.
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“There is no indication that this incident was the target, or that the driver’s actions had anything specifically to do with the people leaving or their cause,” the RCMP said.
No one has been arrested and is still under investigation. Mohr asked the audience to provide a dashboard camera or mobile video.
The first word to the holder of the RCMP’s public statement on the incident is “minor”.
The last line of the RCMP statement reads: “Trying to save a few minutes of time by endangering the lives of others is simply unacceptable.”
In response to questions from the National Post, Mohr said Sunday that while witnesses helped identify the truck’s license plate, officers “are still working to confirm the driver’s identity.”
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He said several witnesses “were not immediately available to meet with us,” Saturday, and officers want to speak with more witnesses and gather evidence to support an indictment recommendation.
“Our understanding is that only two of the four people who were hit really went to the hospital, and the two who arranged their own transportation and didn’t need an ambulance,” Mohr said.
Witnesses told the Post that five people were injured.
On Sunday, Mohr characterized the motorcyclist as a “dangerous driver” rather than an “impatient one.” He confirmed that witnesses said he was “diverting to the group whenever he needed to to avoid the oncoming traffic.”
“When our agents interview the suspect, they will no doubt be interested to know directly from him what his intentions were that day.”
Parts of the incident were captured by cameras during the march. The pictures show a blue Chevrolet van. An accelerating engine can be heard along with the screams of the crowd.
You can see a white man with glasses and a baseball cap pulling out his window and turning back before leaving.
• Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | Twitter: AD_Humphreys
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