Major crime detectives on Vancouver Island are investigating the sudden death of a baby in Victoria Thursday night, and BC’s police watchdog is also investigating, because Victoria police officers had been called to check on the child the night before.
Police were called to Victoria General Hospital just before 9 pm, according to a news release issued by the Victoria Police Department on Saturday.
Paramedics had transported the child and a parent to the hospital from the area of Vancouver and Johnson streets around 7 pm, police said.
When officers responded to the hospital, they learned that police had been dispatched the previous evening for a well-being check involving the parent and the child, police said. That check happened in the 900-block of Johnson Street, according to VicPD.
Police did not say what action, if any, officers took during the wellness check on Wednesday night.
The Independent Investigations Office is now investigating to determine whether police action or inaction contributed in any way to the child’s death.
In its own release on the topic, the IIO said the well-being check happened early Thursday morning, not Wednesday night. The office also described the parent as the child’s mother, and said she was the one who called BC Emergency Health Services on Thursday evening.
The IIO also described the child as an “infant.”
CTV News contacted VicPD to clarify the time discrepancy and confirm the additional details shared by the IIO, but the department declined to provide any additional information and referred all questions to the IIO. CTV News has reached out to the IIO and will update this story if a response is received.
The IIO is tasked with investigating all incidents involving police officers in BC that result in death or serious injury to a member of the public, whether or not there is an allegation of wrongdoing on the part of police. VicPD described the IIO’s involvement in the case as “standard in these circumstances.”
The VIIMCU’s investigation into the child’s death is in its early stages, police said, adding that anyone with information about the incident should call the Victoria Police Department report desk at 250-995-7654, extension 1.
Anyone with information that could help the IIO investigation is asked to call the office’s witness line at 855-446-8477 or to use the contact form on the IIO website.