An RCMP officer could find himself in hot water for leaving his firearm on a B.C. ferry.
Delta Police are investigating after a Mountie drove off a ferry, before he realized he left his firearm in a satchel containing other items, in the cafeteria.
The incident happened March 21 aboard a ferry travelling from Nanaimo to Tsawwassen.
The forgotten firearm was a standard RCMP-issue sidearm.
Const. Ciaran Feenan, Delta Police spokesman, said the member is assigned to the RCMP's E Division in Vancouver.
"He's not a detachment member," Feenan said.
Feenan would not speculate on what consequences the officer might face, but one possible result, depending on the outcome of the investigation, could be a charge of unsafe storage of a firearm.
"In terms of policy and procedural breaches, that's going to be left to the RCMP," Feenan said.
Insp. Dennis Erickson, spokesman for RCMP E Division, said the member works for the RCMP Support Services Section, which provides support to investigative teams and detachments across B.C.
"The member involved realized he'd left his satchel behind as he was disembarking the ferry," Erickson said.
Erickson said the member immediately made phone calls to his supervisor, as well as the Nanaimo detachment and Delta Police.
"Actually as he was calling Delta police, the satchel was being called in [by B.C. Ferries] at the same time," Erickson said. "This all happened, as you can imagine, as he's basically driving off the ramp from the ferry. It was one of those, 'Holy smokes. What did I do?' and start making phone calls at the same time."
Erickson did not know where on the Island the member had been working, but described him as a seasoned investigator with many years on the force.
"We're waiting for Delta to conduct what will be a thorough investigation and we'll see where this goes from there," Erickson said.