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One RCMP officer shot dead, suspect and two officers hurt: B.C. police watchdog
September 22, 2023 By The Canadian Press
Sep. 22, 2023, Coquitlam, B.C. – An RCMP officer has been shot dead, a suspect wounded and two other officers injured while police were trying to execute a search warrant, British Columbia’s police watchdog says.
The Independent Investigations Office said in a statement that the officers went to a home in the Metro Vancouver city of Coquitlam on Friday.
“While there, the attending officers became engaged in an altercation with a man which resulted in multiple officers being injured and the man being shot,” the statement said. “Emergency Health Services transported all injured to hospital, but one of the officers who was shot succumbed to their injuries.”
Carley Hodges, a witness in the busy area of city, described a chaotic scene, with an officer receiving CPR as he was put in an ambulance, another officer with a wound on his leg and a tourniquet above it, and a man in handcuffs.
Hodges said there were “tons of police cars, ambulances and fire trucks coming in.”
The City of Pitt Meadows said in a statement that Ridge Meadows RCMP lost an officer in the line of duty on Friday. “Our heartfelt condolences go to the families of the victims as well as our local officers,” it said.
The Independent Investigations Office will probe the actions of police, while B.C.’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has taken over conduct of the investigation into the death of the officer and the injuries to their colleagues, the IIO said in a statement.
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said he was briefed on the shooting along with Premier David Eby and B.C. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth on Friday. “There were moments of chaos,” he said describing the scene.
“This kind of stuff is extremely troubling,” Stewart said.
Coquitlam RCMP said in a statement later Friday that there was no further concern for public safety, although the area where the altercation happened will remain closed.
Marc Dalton, the member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge, said the death of one officer and injuries to two others were “tragic.”
“This is devastating news for our communities, their loved ones and family. Our thoughts are also with the RCMP.”
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