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VANCOUVER (CUP) — Three more incidents and an Insurance Corporation of B.C. (ICBC) link have emerged in connection to the targeted attacks on people associated with the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC).

In September, the RCMP advised the public that 10 individuals linked with JIBC had been the victims of arson or shooting attacks throughout 2011. The people targeted included three JIBC employees, two former students and five others with loose links to the institution.

"[We] had determined that there was a larger issue here with regards to a variety of shootings and arsons and quickly determined that there was some commonality between them," said Sgt. Peter Thiessen.

Since then, three more people have been targeted, though none of the 13 suffered any injuries. The attacks occurred at or near the victims' homes and vehicles.

Thiessen declined to specify where the attacks took place, except to state that they were spread throughout the Lower Mainland and that none took place on any of JIBC's seven campuses.

The RCMP has been working in conjunction with local police departments since September to track down the assailants, and despite being a priority for all police departments in the region, no arrests have been made.

"We recognize this is very disturbing for the victims,” wrote RCMP Chief Supt. Janice Armstrong in a press release. “In response to the victims’ concerns, I can say we have a large, dedicated team of investigators, who have gathered a considerable amount of evidence. We anticipate that all those responsible for these violent criminal acts will ultimately be brought to justice.”

According to the RCMP, none of the victims have any links to criminality.

Justice Institute of British Columbia

JIBC, a public post-secondary institution based out of New Westminster, trains people in a variety of disciplines related to justice and often instructs professionals such as police officers, paramedics, social workers and correctional staff.

Jack McGhee, the president of JIBC, wrote in a Dec. 14 press release that the institute has been working closely with the RCMP over the past few months.

“We are very concerned that there have been additional incidents," he went on to state. "The safety and security of our students, staff, faculty, and the public who use our campuses is of paramount importance to JIBC."

According to Chris Wong, senior manager of communication and marketing at JIBC, no current students have been victims of these attacks.

He said that since JIBC was informed of the incidents back in August, the institute has taken numerous safety precautions to protect its staff and students.

"We have reviewed security at all of our campuses and the recommendations from that review have been implemented," he said. "People are concerned, but they've been very professional ... [They] have been going about their jobs."

He went on to say that the institute has been ensuring that students and staff are properly informed about the attacks and that it does so through a variety of means such as emails, social media and classroom announcements.

Neither the RCMP or JIBC would speculate about possible motivations for the attacks.

ICBC data breach

In addition to the new incidents, the RCMP also announced that an Insurance Corporation of B.C. (ICBC) claims adjuster has been fired after it was found that she had illegally accessed the personal information of 65 people — including the data of the 13 victims.

ICBC is a crown corporation in B.C. that provides auto insurance and licensing for drivers and vehicles.

The RCMP is alleging that the woman, who remains unidentified, funnelled this information to an unknown group who then used the data to target people linked with JIBC. The employee, along with others, are now under police investigation.

Mark Jan Vrem, manager of media relations for ICBC, said that "As soon as this improper access was uncovered, [the employee] was fired without severance."

He went on to say that ICBC does not know why she accessed the private data.

"All we know is that this employee improperly accessed the information. What she did with that, we have no way of knowing," he said.

In a press release, ICBC president and CEO Jon Schubert stated that the corporation has "conducted a thorough internal and an independent external review of our systems as a result of the privacy breach and have taken steps to better guard against this type of incident from happening again.”

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