Vancouver Island’s homicide unit is investigating after a man was killed while dirt biking in a remote area of Ladysmith on Monday.
Ladysmith RCMP were called to assist paramedics in a forested area off Timberland Forest Service Road just after 5 p.m., according to an RCMP news release.
BC Ambulance Service was dispatched to the area after a 911 caller reported the a man was fatally injured while riding a dirt bike with a small group of people.
Witnesses told authorities that they believed firearms may have been discharged at the time of the incident.
“Unfortunately, the male was pronounced dead at the scene,” BC RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Alex Bérubé said.
“Any time there’s a suspicious death such as what occurred on Monday where firearms might have been discharged in the area we want to err on the side of caution and ensure that we are not leaving any evidence behind in case there is any criminality involved in this incident.”
A dirt biker who was in the area at the time of the incident said many first responders attended the scene.
“Ambulances went up the road here, lights blaring, sirens and stuff and then the police followed them and the helicopters,” said Heath Turner.
Sid Bottomley, who came to the area after the incident, said he was initially told the incident was due to a medical incident.
“So later on I drove up and I guess there was a nurse who was riding also and said he was stuck in a trail somewhere that she couldn’t really get to and I asked what was happening and she said heart attack,” Bottomley said.
No arrests have been made in the fatal incident. The Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit has assumed conduct of the investigation and the BC Coroners Service is conducting its own fact-finding investigation into the death.
Anyone with information is asked to call VIIMCU line at 250-380-6211.
CHEK News
