A man has died following an "exchange of gunfire" with police in East Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Wednesday night.
People in the area of Commercial Drive and East 5th Avenue reported hearing multiple shots fired, which Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Police have now confirmed involved their interaction with an alleged assault suspect.
The VPD says it responded after 8:30 p.m. to reports of an alleged assault in an apartment building, and the gunfire ensued when patrol officers arrived.
The suspect, who police say is a man in his 40s, subsequently died.
One VPD officer was injured and taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Locals who were in the area shared their experiences on social media:
"I was watching a movie when I heard what I thought was someone banging on a dumpster to scare away an animal. Saw flashing lights and went out onto the balcony to see two officers in the alley below me with pistols drawn. They grabbed a ladder from the construction site on 5th and I heard the distinct sound of a window breaking. I unwisely hung around until I heard 5 or 6 shots fired and I hightailed it to a safer place," .
"I work right there and they locked us down for two hours. I just got out of there. Some of my customers saw what happened," added another Reddit user.
A few others tweeted about what they experienced:
The area was closed off to traffic, transit, and pedestrians, and some area residents say police knocked on their doors to see if they were okay.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Police note that the Independent Investigations Office is investigating the fatal shooting.
