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The IIO said members of the Emergency Response Team entered the home at 7:30 a.m. Friday and there was an exchange of gunfire between officers and a male occupant.

Surrey RCMP said the man sustained a fatal gunshot wound and died at the scene.

A female victim suffering from serious, but unspecified, injuries was located inside the home. Police say she was pronounced dead in hospital.

“Frontline officers attended and evacuated a number of individuals from nearby homes and properties. A containment area was established and the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team attended to assist the investigation,” Surrey RCMP said in a statement.

“Multiple efforts were made throughout the night and into the morning to engage the barricaded male and a female hostage within the home in order to peacefully resolve the situation.”

No names have been released.

Ron MacDonald, the IIO’s chief civilian officer, said it was his understanding that the female hostage was the woman who died and there was no one else inside the home.

The oversight agency will attempt to determine what caused the deaths, whether they were linked to police actions, and whether the actions of police were justified, said MacDonald.

It will also explore the background of the relationship of the two dead individuals, he added.

“In any of these cases, we often want to try to determine what the background was, what brought these people to this situation,” MacDonald said. “It can sometimes explain their actions that they may have taken with respect to their interactions with police. In that sense, it’s quite relevant.”

The Surrey RCMP say no officers or other members of the public were injured during the shootout.

“The scene and any evidence have been secured, and the Independent Investigation Office of B.C. has been notified and are deploying to the scene. IIO B.C. will assume conduct of the investigation into the police-involved shooting to see if there is any link between police actions and the man’s death,” the RCMP said.

— with file from Canadian Press

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