A West Vancouver teen was airlifted to hospital Thursday afternoon after becoming seriously injured in a fall down an embankment in Cypress Falls Park.
West Vancouver Fire and Rescue members were called to the scene around 11 a.m. when the Grade 8 Rockridge secondary school student fell about 10 metres during a phys-ed class outing. The injury appeared to be a broken thigh and abrasions, according to rescuers.
"They were playing some games in the forest in the Cypress Park area. They were given clear instruction as to where they should be and shouldn't be but unfortunately a Grade 8 boy did have a fall," said Carolyn Warner, West Vancouver school district communications assistant.
"We were fortunate enough to have emergency people there right away because the teacher called 9-1-1 immediately and they were able to bring him out."
West Vancouver Fire and Rescue
members used ropes to ease themselves down to the spot where the boy had fallen and performed some treatment at the scene, according fire Chief Jim Cook. It took about an hour-and-a-half and 15 firefighters to get the student into a basket stretcher, and slowly negotiate the hazardous terrain back to the top.
"It wasn't just a straight pull back up the hill. We had to navigate some rocks and brush and things, so they had to be slow and methodical about coming back up the hill," Cook said.
At the request of the boy's parents, he was taken to B.C. Children's Hospital.
"He was conscious. He was obviously in some pain but he was able to talk to his parents and his mother went with him in the helicopter," Warner said.
Rockridge students sometimes have their gym classes in the park as it is only a five-minute walk away. District administrators will be following up with the parents and the incident will be reviewed, Warner said.
"All of the procedures, as far as we can tell, were followed. There was appropriate teacher supervision there. The children were given appropriate instructions and the fire, police and ambulance all did their job," she said.
in Tacoma's east side, when Bernard Houston and Michael Jeter, two Hilltop Crip gang members, shot at Allen and Anthony Ralls, 44, both alleged to be Blood gang members.
In retaliation, prosecutors allege two car-loads of Bloods drove to the Hilltop area looking for Crips. Allen drove one of the cars, an Oldsmobile Cutlass with Ralls and Lee as passengers, they allege.
Just before midnight, the Blood group spotted Houston and Jeter in a car. Prosecutors allege Allen and Ralls stepped out of their car and gunfire erupted.
"(Allen) and Ralls fired multiple times, one shot striking Houston in the head and killing him," the prosecutors alleged in court documents.
They allege Allen is responsible for the murder whether he fired the fatal shot or was an accomplice.
After the shooting, the alleged Blood gang members fled.
Tacoma Police officers found B Houston lying in the street W under the front of a silver Jeep Cherokee. He later died in hospital.
The initial investigation did not produce enough evidence for arrests, but Tacoma police detectives continued to work on the case over the years, including interviews with three of Allen's co-accused, others present at the shooting and with anonymous tipsters.
All of those people gave similar accounts of what happened on the night of the shooting, prosecutors said.
Allen's U.S. defence lawyer Brett Purtzer said Allen denies being involved in the shooting.
"He's denying he was involved or that he is responsible for any murder," said Purtzer.
Purtzer said he's still waiting to get a lot of the detailed information from prosecutors before mounting a defence.
"This thing is 25 years old," he said. "Some of the information they have obtained might be from people who are less than reputable."
Purtzer added he doesn't know why officials chose to arrest Allen the way they did rather than applying to have him extradited to the U.S. to face charges. "It's not like he was in hiding," he added.
None of the charges have been proven in court.
Allen remains in custody, with bail posted at US$2 million. Even if he posts bail, Allen, who is a Canadian citizen, would not be allowed to leave the United States.
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