Independent probe launched following in-custody death in Dawson Creek, B.C.

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. – Investigators with British Columbia’s police watchdog have been called to Dawson Creek after a woman collapsed while in custody and later died.

The Independent Investigations Office says in a news release that the unnamed woman was being held in a police cell in the northeastern B.C. community on Saturday while RCMP conducted an “ongoing investigation.”

The office says paramedics were called because of the woman’s behaviour and she later went into medical distress.

She was pronounced dead Sunday after being airlifted to hospital in Prince George.

The Independent Investigations Office says staff will determine what role, if any, the officers’ actions or inaction may have played in the death.

The civilian office investigates all serious officer-related incidents.