Police and emergency responders are lined up across a busy Vancouver street to pay tribute to fallen Burnaby RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang.
Yang, 31, was killed in the line of duty responding to a complaint in Broadview Park near Canada Way and Curle Avenue, according to police.
Members of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD), the B.C. RCMP, Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, and other emergency responders lined up across Vancouver around 9 a.m.
Vancouver Fire Rescue Services Acting Ass. Chief Andy Greenwood told Vancouver Is Awesome that police are moving her body from Vancouver General Hospital to Burnaby General Hospital.
Police and emergency vehicles on 12th Ave for Shaelyn Yang. #vancouver pic.twitter.com/Kms4gr3s1y
— Elana Shepert 🇺🇦 (@elanashepert) October 20, 2022
The procession will move east on 12th Avenue into Burnaby, where it will turn onto Boundary Road. Police will not block off the street but will be in the right-hand lane.
VPD Sgt. Steve Addison told V.I.A. that "we are all deeply impacted by Const. Yang’s murder. Many of our officers raced to help after she was stabbed. Her death has reverberated through the police community."
The Burnaby RCMP and other first responders lined up across the Lower Mainland in a procession Tuesday to mourn Yang's death.
As we mourn the tragic death of Cst. Shaelyn Yang, we are grateful for the outpouring of support from our community, including the first responders who paid tribute to her last night.
— Burnaby RCMP (@BurnabyRCMP) October 19, 2022
Thank you. We know we are not alone in our grief. pic.twitter.com/gKXqYbNKQ5
Sgt. Timothy Pierotti of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team told a press conference that Yang volunteered to work on a mental health and homeless outreach team and she was helping a city worker deliver the news to a man when she was killed.
A statement from the National Police Federation says Yang's homicide marks the fifth on-duty death of a police officer in Canada in as many weeks, adding "no one should fear their next shift could be their last, and no colleague should have to bear the unfathomable loss of a fallen peer."
Chief officer Dave Jones described Yang in an internal email to members as “a bright, enthusiastic and caring person.”
“Constable Yang was known by some of our members who on occasion had the opportunity to meet and work with her,” the internal email said.
With files from Cornelia Naylor and the Canadian Press.
