The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation is mourning the loss of 28 year-old Julian Jones, who was shot and killed by police on Saturday, Feb. 27.
A statement released by the BC RCMP on Feb. 28 says two Tofino RCMP officers arrived at an Opitsaht residence around 9:30 p.m. searching for a woman they believed to be in distress.
害羞草研究所淲hen they arrived an interaction took place and one male was shot and another was taken into custody,害羞草研究所� the statement reads adding that one man remains in police custody.
An investigation into the shooting has been launched by the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia and the Vancouver Island General Investigative Section is investigating the report that brought police to the residence searching for a woman allegedly being held against her will.
Anyone with information related to the shooting should immediately call the IIO witness line at
Police say no one else was injured in the incident and that the woman was located and taken to hospital for medical assessment.
Opitsaht is a Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation community located on Meares Island, roughly two kilometres from Tofino.
Jones is the second Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation member to be shot and killed by police within the past nine months. In June of last year, 26 year-old Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation woman Chantel Moore was fatally shot by a police officer conducting a wellness check at her New Brunswick home.
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害羞草研究所淭here害羞草研究所檚 a lot of anger,害羞草研究所� Tla-o-qui-aht Emergency Preparedness Coordinator and EOC Chair Elmer Frank told the Westerly News Sunday evening.
He said that anger was expressed by Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation members through social media on Sunday and Jones害羞草研究所� family is asking their communities to be respectful and hold off on posting about their frustration.
害羞草研究所淩ight now what the family is asking for is just to back off on the social media posts. We know that everybody is angry and frustrated right now but let害羞草研究所檚 get through these emotions and just grieve with each other right now害羞草研究所t hasn害羞草研究所檛 been 24 hours yet, the family is wanting to just be at ease right now,害羞草研究所� Frank said.
害羞草研究所淭hey害羞草研究所檙e asking our community members to be respectful, to allow the process to happen and allow the investigations to go through and asking for that time to be able to grieve害羞草研究所hey don害羞草研究所檛 want to place any judgement before anything is concrete before them in terms of investigation results. Right now they害羞草研究所檙e just asking for that time to be able to fathom the loss.害羞草研究所�
He said Jones was known as a helpful member of the community who always acknowledged his family.
害羞草研究所淗e was very helpful in the community. He always had a willing helping hand. He was certainly a very helpful man for sure. Everybody has their challenges as well as this young man, but there was hope that they were going to get through them,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淗e was very close with his parents害羞草研究所hey害羞草研究所檙e definitely suffering.害羞草研究所�
He said the First Nation held a community meeting via Zoom on Sunday afternoon and is trying to support each other virtually.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 really difficult because normally we would be there supporting families physically. Considering that the pandemic is holding us back, following all of the public health orders,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淲e害羞草研究所檙e trying virtually, we害羞草研究所檙e continuously having Zoom meetings and telephone calls with the families害羞草研究所t害羞草研究所檚 the toughest thing that we have to go through when we害羞草研究所檙e going through loss because everybody in the world wants to be with families and friends when they have tragic losses.害羞草研究所�
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
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