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FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2011
Surrey Eagles push Coquitlam out of BCHL playoffs ❚ Sports, page 32
❚CRIME
Former teacher facing sex charges
Investigators go over the scene of a fatal police shooting that took place on King George Boulevard just north of Highway 10 late ❚PHOTO/Ted Colley Wednesday night. The investigation carried over into Thursday morning, causing traffic headaches for commuters.
❚RCMP
Traffic stop ends with shooting
SGT. DEAN JANTZEN/ “Rest assured, this was a deadly force encounter. It was perceived as a deadly force encounter by the members involved.”
SURREY Ted COLLEY — Officers from Staff Reporter the Saanich police department are in town to investigate the fatal shooting of a suspect by a Surrey Mountie late Wednesday night. Investigations by an outside police agency are standard procedure in such cases. Early reports from Surrey RCMP stated the dead man, so far unidentified and described only as an adult male, opened fire on police with an assault rifle when he was pulled over on King George Boulevard, just north of Highway 10, just after 11 p.m. Saanich PD Sgt. Dean Jantzen, however, could not confirm that at a press conference at the scene Thursday afternoon. “We’re not sure if there were any rounds fired by the deceased, or not,” Jantzen said, noting the
inquiry had only just begun and evidence was still being gathered and assessed. Jantzen said, at that moment, he wasn’t even certain how many Surrey Mounties were involved in the shooting, saying he believed only one officer was involved. Nor could he say how many shots were fired. Police firearms experts were called in to go over the ballistic evidence to find answers to these questions. Of one thing he was certain, however. “Rest assured,” Jantzen said, “this was a deadly force encounter. It was perceived as a deadly force encounter by the members involved.” The incident began a few minutes earlier when a Mountie stopped the suspect’s car in a routine traffic stop in the 15400-block of 16th Avenue. The officer spotted
what appeared to be an assault rifle in the suspect’s car and he called for backup. At this point, the suspect sped away. Earlier reports from Surrey RCMP stated a short pursuit ensued, but was quickly broken off. The suspect was spotted just after 11 p.m. in the vicinity of King George Boulevard and Highway 10. A short time later, the shooting began. Patrol officers kept the suspect car covered until the RCMP emergency response team arrived and approached the vehicle in an armoured car. They found the suspect dead. Jantzen said more information would be made available to the public as the investigation progressed. No police officers were injured in the incident. tcolley@thenownewspaper.com
SURREY Tom ZYTARUK — A former Staff Reporter math teacher at Johnston Heights Secondary school has been charged with six sex-related charges involving two 13-year-old girls dating back to when he was a gym teacher and basketball coach in Prince George. John Triplett, 66, taught at DP Todd secondary in Prince George in the late 1970s until the mid 1980s. The crimes he’s accused of are alleged to have occurred in the 1980s. Triplett had been teaching in Surrey prior to the RCMP investigation, which began in September 2009. Surrey school district spokesman Doug Strachan said Triplett is no longer an employee. After the district learned of the police investigation, Strachan said, “We reacted immediately to remove him from the classroom.” Triplett wasn’t fired, but wasn’t allowed to work around children either, Strachan said. “He left employment with the district in any event.” According to posts on the Rate My Teachers website, Triplett was “excellent” and “awesome” and “the best.” “He really cares for his students,” one writer posted. But according to the B.C. College of Teachers website, on Jan. 12, 2009, a John Triplett was fined $7,742 and suspended for two months for professional misconduct. A disciplinary panel heard that between September 2001 through January 2002, the teacher, while working at a secondary school in an alternate program, allowed students to engage in “unsafe activities” in class, “used unacceptable physical force or restraint in disciplining a student,” and “failed to treat the student with dignity.” Strachan would not say if this happened in Surrey, nor would he reveal the duration of Triplett’s employment here because “privacy comes into play.” tzytaruk@thenow newspaper.com