RCMP sending in reinforcements to address rising violence, shooting death in Dawson Creek, B.C.

The B.C. RCMP is once again sending more officers to Dawson Creek, in the province's northeast, following a new spate of violence in the community of roughly 12,400 people.

In the past week there have been at least two high-profile shootings, including a drive-by in a residential neighbourhood and another in a business area that left one dead and another injured.

Police say these and other violent incidents appear to be gang-related and that members of several provincial units, including the Uniform Gang Enforcement Team and Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit will be deployed to the city located about 400 kilometres by car north of Prince George, near the B.C.-Alberta border.

Dawson Creek has already been dealing with the fallout of a series of violent incidents going back several years which were subject to a CBC Fifth Estate investigation broadcast last fall. The investigation found that since 2021, 11 people have gone missing or been murdered in the community, a dramatic increase given that just seven years prior, the city had only one recorded homicide.

WATCH | Unsolved deaths in Dawson Creek: 

Dawson Creek: We want our town back

3 months ago

Duration 44:50

Local news is disappearing, so we asked viewers for their stories. One person pointed us to Dawson Creek, B.C., where residents feel besieged by killings and a wave of disappearances. Many residents say the RCMP has evaded accountability. Until now.

At the time, RCMP Supt. Sanjaya Wijayakoon said he expected to announce developments in some of the more high-profile cases in the near future but so far, no leads or arrests have been publicly shared.

In a news release issued Wednesday, North District RCMP Insp. Steve McLeod said police continue to take the issues facing the city seriously.

"Dawson Creek RCMP will continue conducting dedicated proactive enhanced enforcement initiatives, focusing our efforts on apprehending those responsible for violent and often public offenses," he said.

"Through proactive policing measures, we are committed to ensuring community safety in the community of Dawson Creek."

Darcy Dober, the mayor of Dawson Creek, said police in the town are doing everything they can under the circumstances, and expressed support for them — even as he acknowledged that the violence was "disheartening."

"You get these things that happen and it makes it out to look like it's this horrible place, but it's really not, right?" he said.

"It's targeted. It's gang stuff. It's not out in the streets, right? Like, it's unfortunate."