The Langley RCMP Schools Unit is investigating a suspected attack by teenagers on homeless man who was camping in Brookswood.
Shortly after the suspected attack was reported to the police, the victim died, although his death is not considered suspicious, and is not linked to the attack, said Cpl. Craig van Herk, Langley RCMP spokesperson.
“There was a report of an assault on an unhoused individual in the Brookswood area,” van Herk said.
Because the investigation is still underway, he could not give too many details about the case, but said that it involved youth suspects, under the age of 18. The Langley RCMP Schools Unit is investigating, but van Herk confirmed the incident did not take place on Langley School District property.
Asked about the case, Langley School District issued a statement saying that it is unable to comment on any police investigations.
The attack on the homeless man was reported on Nov. 3.
Later that same day, emergency responders were called to a fire in a homeless camp in the Dale Ball Passive Park on 36th Avenue near 208th Street in Brookswood.
Van Herk said a man was found dead in a tent that had caught on fire. The exact cause of death has not been released, but it’s believed the fire was not responsible for his death.
Police are still awaiting a DNA test to get final confirmation of the victim’s identity, but he’s believed to be the same man who was the victim of the assault.
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Because of the close proximity between the report of the assault and the man’s death, police did consult with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT). However, an autopsy revealed that the cause of death is not suspicious.
“Regardless of whether man is deceased, we’re still going to pursue the [assault] investigation,” said van Herk.
The death of the homeless man has upset some who knew him in the area.
“He was just that one step away from a new start,” said Dave, who works in the area around 208th Street and 40th Avenue and asked that his last name not be used.
He and others in that area had gotten to know the man, who they knew as R.J., over the last year.
Dave had gotten R.J. a new charger for his phone and some calling minutes, and R.J. had re-connected with a sister living in the B.C. Interior.
They were making plans to move in together there, Dave said, when R.J. suddenly died.
Local merchants and employees helped R.J. out with food and Gatorade, and medical supplies after he recently cut his hand badly.
“He’d say ‘Don’t waste your time with me,’” Dave remembered. “I’d say, ‘Come on, you’re not a waste of time.’”
R.J. had been living in the Brookswood area for about a year before his death, Dave believed.