A school director in Prince George, British Columbia, said he was shaken and scared after being surrounded by police, guns drawn and handcuffed, in what RCMP say was the wrong person.

Erica MacLean is a local school board vice-chair, a native of the Gitsan Nation in Hazelton, and an author and athlete who works with youth in communities in north-central British Columbia.

She said she was parked in the parking lot of a local Starbucks Tuesday morning when an unmarked police car slowly crashed into the front of her SUV, followed by a second police car pushing her from the rear.

What happened next was a blur, she said, as she was surrounded by multiple police officers with guns, shouting directions to her.

“I froze,” she says. “I couldn’t understand it. There were so many instructions…I remember thinking that if I made one wrong step, a lot of weapons would be pointed at me and I could die. I really felt like my life was in danger.

”I was afraid that if I put down my cell phone or took off my seatbelt, I would be shot. I whispered quietly, “What’s going on?” What’s going on? Why does this happen? ”

RCMP said they were following training.

In a statement, RCMP said they did not dispute MacLean’s explanation. They said they had received a report of a vehicle stolen the previous day by suspects believed to be “affiliated with a local criminal organization.”

On Tuesday, local police believed they had found a stolen vehicle in the parking lot, according to a statement.In accordance with their training for when a vehicle stop is deemed to be a high-risk situation, our police officers use their police vehicle to stop the suspect vehicle from moving or intervene by drawing a firearm on the occupants (in this case, the solo driver). ”

“We have been in contact with the driver several times since this incident occurred,” said Sgt. Dan Morris, commander of the Street Fighter Unit, said in a written statement. “We had the opportunity to explain how the officer came to believe that her vehicle was the vehicle we were looking for and offered assistance from Victim Services and our detachment.”

in search of answers

Ms MacLean said police tried to explain what happened to her at the scene and calm her down, but she was still scared and scarred by the experience and was having trouble sleeping as she went through a “rollercoaster” of emotions.

She’s not looking for blame, but wants more answers as to why police treated her as a danger to herself and the public and put her in a situation where she felt her life was in danger.

“It takes a second or two for me to be determined to be such a threat to public safety that it warrants this type of response and this type of force. And it’s within that scope that I have so many questions, not just for myself, but for others in the community who may have experienced something like this.”

MacLean said she has since been contacted by multiple individuals and organizations offering to help.

She said she is considering her next steps and wants to speak with her local RCMP superintendent about what happened and how to move forward.

She also says that as an elected official, she feels a responsibility to share her experience and learn how it happened.

“If this can happen to me, what else could be going on outside?” she said.