The Vancouver Police Department is investigating the death Friday of a 20-year-old university student who had been in RCMP custody in Whistler two days earlier.
The University of British Columbia student was arrested by Whistler RCMP at around 5 p.m. Tuesday, Vancouver police said in a brief statement.
While the man was in the Whistler jail cells, "he fell several times."
He was released around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, Vancouver police said.
Early Thursday morning, he was found unconscious at a UBC residence and was taken to hospital where he died Friday at about 1:30 p.m, police said.
From the time he was released from RCMP custody and the moment he was found unconscious, 23 hours elapsed.
Vancouver police spokesperson Const. Jana McGuinness couldn't say whether the student had received any medical attention while in custody.
She told CTV British Columbia that investigators will be reviewing surveillance video from the Whistler jail.
Police have not identified the student, but his roommate identified him as Silas Rogers.
Rogers, a New Brunswick native, was a third-year student in the Faculty of Arts, his roommate Andrew Simpson told ctvbc.ca.
Rogers had gone to Whistler to visit his girlfriend and other friends, Simpson said. After he was released from RCMP custody, he spent the night at his girlfriend's apartment on the UBC campus where he was later found unconscious, Simpson said.
Under the RCMP's new national External Investigation or Review Policy announced earlier this month, the force asked the Vancouver Police Department to conduct the investigation.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Douglas Quan, Alia Dharssi and Sarah Galashan and files from The Canadian Press
