Police watchdog investigating violent wellness check conducted by Nanaimo RCMP

British Columbia’s police watchdog service is investigating a mental health wellness check that turned violent in Nanaimo.

According to a statement from the Independent Investigations Office of B.C., Nanaimo RCMP received a call from an individual who wanted them to perform a wellness check on another person.

When police arrived, they told the woman that she was “being apprehended under the Mental Health Act” which means she was being taken into custody.

See also: Indigenous woman from Vancouver Island shot and killed by police in New Brunswick

IIOBC says a “physical altercation ensued” and the woman had to be hospitalized.

Nanaimo RCMP learned a few days later that the victim’s injuries were serious, and notified the police oversight agency.

IIOBC now asks that anyone who may have information about this incident reach out to the the IIO Witness Line toll free at 1-855-446-8477.

In recent weeks, police and RCMP officers conducting wellness checks have come under scrutiny after several incidents of excessive force and even death were reported in Canada.

Earlier this month, Chantel Moore, an Indigenous woman who moved to New Brunswick from Vancouver Island, was shot five times and killed by an officer performing a mental health check.

RCMP alleges that Moore was brandishing a knife, and the officer in question did not attempt to use non-lethal weapons during the incident.