The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says a man found dead inside a burning truck in Langley was known to them and had a criminal record. I-HIT says in a statement that investigators have identified the victim of what they believe was a targeted incident as 36-year-old Christopher Roy of Vancouver. They say Roy was was connected to the current Lower Mainland gang
conflict and police have released his name in order to further the investigation into his death. They say Langley R-C-M-P were called to a vehicle fire last Tuesday evening and found Roy’s body inside after the fire was extinguished.
The director of fire centre operations for the B-C Wildfire Service says daily ignitions have subsided in recent days due to a lack of lightning and more stable weather. That’s helped crews fighting some 250 fires burning across the province. Rob Schweitzer says winds have eased, mitigating aggressive fire growth despite hotter-than-normal temperatures forecast for much of southern B-C this week. Schweitzer adds that this season is far above the 10-year average as more than 12-hundred fires have burned four-thousand-250 square kilometres since April. He says the 10-year average for the same period is about 642 fires or one-thousand-and-50 square kilometres burned.
Tokyo has reported three thousand, 177 new coronavirus cases, setting an all-time high and exceeding three-thousand for the first time days after the start of the Olympics. The new cases surpass the earlier record of 28-hundred and 48 set the previous day and bring the total for the Japanese capital to more than 200-thousand since the pandemic began. Tokyo has been under a fourth state of emergency since July 12th ahead of the Olympics.
The group representing doctors in B.C. is lauding the province for its latest push to get more people vaccinated, suggesting healthcare workers who haven’t gotten the jab should get in line. Calling the latest drive by the province to get the rest of the province vaccinated as “essential,” a leading physician in B.C. says getting health care workers on board with vaccinations isn’t a major issue. Dr. Matthew Chow, who currently leads Doctors of B.C., is describing the new vaccination drive as the “right thing to do.” Responding to Dr. Bonnie Henry’s suggestion that she’s frustrated with health care professionals who haven’t gotten vaccinated, Chow says he can understand the sentiment. Chow notes medical professionals who don’t want the shots are likely to find their work-life more inconvenient going forward, as it’s being suggested those who don’t get the jab may eventually have to undergo a daily COVID test before they’re able to work. “We’ve had a policy for influenza, we will have a very similar policy, that if people choose not to be immunized and you work in health care, then you will not be able to work in certain settings without taking additional measures. There will be consequences for that decision,” she said.
Canada’s Penny Oleksiak has won a bronze medal in 200-metre freestyle swimming at the Tokyo Olympics. This is her sixth Olympic medal, making her Canada’s most decorated summer Olympian. Oleksiak finished fourth in her semifinal heat with a time of 1:56.39 to qualify for the final. The Toronto native made history at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, becoming the first Canadian to win four medals (one gold, one silver, and two bronze) in the same Summer Games and the youngest Olympic champion at just 16-years-old. Ahead of Tuesday’s final, Oleksiak also anchored the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay team to silver during the first days of this Olympics.
Richmond RCMP are releasing details about a violent confrontation that took place at a fast-food restaurant at Ironwood Plaza in Richmond, located on Steveston Highway. The incident took place on July 27 at around 3:40 pm. Restaurant employees called police after an angry customer came into the establishment and began damaging property inside the restaurant. According to the report, he did this because he was unhappy with the service. The suspect is a 30-year-old man from Delta. Richmond RCMP say the man began fighting with police during his arrest. Two employees and two police officers were allegedly assaulted during the incident. They sustained minor injuries. The suspect also left the incident with minor injuries, and he was treated at Richmond General Hospital. He is currently in police custody, awaiting a bail hearing facing possible mischief charges of over $5,000, an assault charge, and a charge of assaulting a peace officer.
As of Wednesday, July 28, 2021, 80.9% (3,747,391) of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 63.2% (2,931,128) have received their second dose. In addition, 81.8% (3,538,565) of all eligible adults in B.C. have received their first dose and 66.1% (2,857,809) have received their second dose. B.C. is reporting 185 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 149,444 cases in the province. There are 909 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 146,756 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 47 individuals are in hospital and 20 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.