A police roadblock is seen on Glen Drive after a shooting involving RCMP officers in Coquitlam, B.C., on Sept. 22.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
An RCMP officer is dead and two others seriously injured after they were shot while attempting to execute a search warrant in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam.
A suspect was also seriously injured in the shooting, which took place in downtown Coquitlam shortly after 10 a.m. on Friday in an area not far from city hall. Witnesses described a chaotic scene as emergency workers treated the injured officers.
Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, in a press conference late Friday afternoon, said 51-year-old Constable Rick O’Brien was killed in the shooting. The decorated RCMP officer had been with the service for seven years, with the Deputy Commissioner describing him as someone who was respected by his peers.
RCMP Constable Rick (Fredrick) O’Brien was killed in the line of duty while attempting to execute a search warrant in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam on Sept. 22.Supplied
Constable O’Brien, a father, had a great sense of humour and was loved by his community, Deputy Commissioner McDonald said.
The constable was a speaker at an event called the Gratitude and Appreciation Summit in 2020. A biography on the event’s website says he and his wife had six children between them, three on each side.
“To say that today has been a struggle is an understatement. Our RCMP family is once again gutted,” Deputy Commissioner McDonald said, noting the shooting took place less than a year after another RCMP officer was killed in the Vancouver region.
Constable Shaelyn Yang, a 31-year-old mental health and homeless outreach officer, was stabbed to death in Burnaby in October when she and a city worker attempted to issue an eviction notice to a man who had been living in a tent at a local park.
“We’re still healing from that tragic loss and yet here we are again,” said Deputy Commissioner McDonald. “A day like today reminds us of how dangerous this job can be and the ultimate price that is often paid in service to our communities.”
B.C. RCMP has released few details about what happened but said that officers “engaged in an altercation” with a man at the scene. It was there that Constable O’Brien was shot and succumbed to his injuries.
Emergency medical services transported two other officers to hospital, one of whom has been treated and released while the other recovers with non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect is also in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Deputy Commissioner McDonald declined to comment on the nature of the investigation that prompted the search warrant but described it as “long term.”
B.C.’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is probing Constable O’Brien’s death, while the province’s police watchdog is investigating the civilian’s injury.
The Independent Investigations Office, or IIO, said in a statement that its first priority will be to confirm the “details of what occurred leading up to and during the interaction with police.” The agency investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death.
Ridge Meadows RCMP Superintendent Wendy Mehat, also at the press conference, said Constable O’Brien’s contribution was immeasurable.
“Rick loved visiting schools and helping students, doing presentations, supporting our detachment food drives and sport events,” she said. “He was truly exceptional – a hard worker and a good human being. His death is senseless and heartbreaking.”
He had a career supporting at-risk youth before becoming a police officer, she added. His entire time as a police officer was at Ridge Meadow.
It was within months of joining the RCMP that Constable O’Brien was involved in the rescue of several victims of a home invasion, including a child. He received a commendation for his bravery and a provincial award, said Deputy Commissioner McDonald.
He said he is outraged by what he described as the latest in a string of officer deaths. Constable O’Brien is the 11th police officer in Canada killed in the line of duty since last September.
“I have to say that I, and all my police colleagues across the country, have been dismayed over the last several years about a narrative that is clouding policing in this country and perhaps painting police in a certain light that sometimes seems to encourage people to resist authority and disrespect the profession of policing and, quite honestly, fight the police,” Deputy Commissioner McDonald said.
“I’m not commenting on this particular instance, but I will say that this is a stark reminder that the police are here to help you … to see our fallen members in the last year, to see those deaths stack up and up, it’s incredibly outraging.”
On Friday afternoon, more than a dozen police vehicles were still on scene, where bright yellow tape cordoned off an area with several large condo buildings located near the SkyTrain rapid transit line.
Carley Hodges, who was near the scene, said she saw one officer being taken out of a building on a stretcher while receiving chest compressions. She said another officer was bleeding from the leg with a tourniquet above it.
``They were bringing him to the ambulance and they were giving him CPR, they were going back and forth, like really going at it,’’ said Ms. Hodges, adding that she saw blood on the injured officer and a man in handcuffs. She said there were “tons of police cars, ambulances and fire trucks coming in.”
Yan Wang, who manages a dental officer near the area that was cordoned off, said police asked business owners to shut down and stay away for the rest of Friday and Saturday.
B.C. Premier David Eby confirmed there had been a “critical incident” earlier on Friday but provided no further details. “As soon as we can share more information, we will, but (the) public is not at further risk at this time,” he told media after he spoke to an annual convention of local politicians.
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said earlier in the day, before the police press conference, that he had been briefed on the situation but couldn’t share details about the officers’ injuries. ”This kind of stuff is extremely troubling,’’ he said, adding that the shooting took place in a very busy location. “There were moments of chaos.”
With a report from The Canadian Press