Kamloops RCMP cleared in man’s death

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Kamloops Mounties have been exonerated in connection with the death of a man at Royal Inland Hospital last summer.

The victim was Tasered in an unsuccessful attempt to stop him from jumping from the third level of the hospital’s parkade.

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C.’s report, authored by civilian director Richard Rosenthal, has found RCMP officers did not commit a criminal offence.

The incident occurred on June 11, 2014, when an 18-year-old patient at the hospital left the building in a distraught state.

Responding Mounties spoke with him for about 40 minutes before he was Tasered, but officers told IIOBC investigators the weapon had no effect.

“The CEW (conducted electrical weapon, or Taser) ended up being ineffective and the affected person ... ran and went over the ledge,” Rosenthal wrote.