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'Hero' police officer dead following shooting in Abbotsford

tbone909

By tbone909
in Off-Topic General

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tbone909 Abbotsford Star

tbone909

Posted
Posted

RIP to the brave officer and pray for his family.

 

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/police-officer-shot-in-abbotsford-reports?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1510001625

 

'Hero' police officer dead following shooting in Abbotsford

The Abbotsford police department is in mourning after an officer died following a dramatic shooting outside of an Abbotsford strip mall on Monday afternoon.

“The officer who gave his life today is a hero,” said a shaken Abbotsford Police Chief Bob Rich. “He was protecting this community. He will always be my hero.”

Rich said the police department received a report of a possible stolen vehicle in a parking lot of a strip mall in the 3200-block of Mt. Lehman Road.

The caller was so confident that the car had been stolen that they blocked the car in while waiting for police to arrive. The driver of the apparent stolen vehicle began shooting at the caller and others in the vicinity with a shotgun.

Police officers arrived and tried to arrest the suspect but, Rich said, there was an exchange of gunfire and an officer was shot and injured. The officer was taken to the hospital with “very serious injuries” while other officers pursued the suspect vehicle.

A collision took place at the intersection of Mt. Lehman and Fraser Highway, and the suspect, an Alberta man in his 60s, was arrested. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Video posted to Twitter shows Abbotsford police chasing and crashing into a fleeing vehicle.

Gunshots can be heard in a second video which shows police surrounding a suspect vehicle.

“The horrible part of this story is our injured APD officer was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly after he arrived,” Rich said.

Rich met with the officer’s family and delivered the terrible news, “something I never wanted to do in my life.” 

The name of the officer has not yet been released.

Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun had been in council meetings all afternoon, however he received a call from Rich at about 12:40 p.m. to advise him that an officer had been shot and taken to hospital.

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Abbotsford Police Chief Constable Bob Rich announces that an Abbostford Police officer died in hospital after being shot near Mt. Lehman Road and Fraser Highway in Abbotsford, B.C., on Monday November 6, 2017. BEN NELMS/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

“This is kind of my worst nightmare as a mayor,” said Braun.

He said his thoughts and prayers are with the officer and his family, as well as the other officers who were involved in the incident.

“I am, and everyone in Abbotsford is, in shock over this incident,” said Braun. “I don’t think anyone that feels that this level of violence is OK in our community or in any other. This is a tragedy.”

Rich commended the actions of all officers involved in Monday’s incident, saying they were all “absolutely heroic.”

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO), which conducts investigations into officer-related incidents that cause death or serious harm, has been deployed to the scene. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has taken over the investigation.

Bart Por, the sales manager at MSA Ford Abbotsford’s Fraser Valley AutoMall, said his employees were the ones who called police about the stolen vehicle.

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Police and officers from the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) on scene after an Abbotsford police officer was fatally shot on Mt. Lehman Road near the Fraser Highway in Abbotsford, B.C., on Nov. 6, 2017. NICK PROCAYLO / PNG

On Saturday, a 2016 black convertible Mustang was stolen off the dealership lot — a salesman was walking around the car when the test driver took off.

“He was to go on a demo. When my salesman turned around he was already out the driveway,” said Por.

A few staff members were at the mall across the street at about noon on Monday when they spotted the stolen car and called police. Then, the chaos ensued.

“The cops went speeding by me on my way in. My lot manager’s truck windows were shot out,” he said. “I heard a lot of gunshots going on.”

Por said both the police and the driver of the stolen car were firing.

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Police and officers from the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) on scene after an Abbotsford police officer was fatally shot on Mt. Lehman Road near the Fraser Highway in Abbotsford, B.C., on Nov. 6, 2017. NICK PROCAYLO / PNG

Derrik Middleton was at a sushi restaurant at an Abbotsford strip mall eating lunch when he heard two loud pops.

The owner of the restaurant who was standing near the door looked outside and had a horrified look on her face, he said.

“I ran to the door and looked outside. The officer was down and bleeding.”

They closed the door, locked it and called 911.

Middleton said another officer was with the man within seconds.

Before police officially confirmed the officer’s death, Middleton already feared the worst.

“An officer, I believe, lost his life today,” he said. “He did not move at all. They didn’t try to resuscitate him until the ambulance came.”

Middleton said the restaurant patrons were under lockdown for about two hours.

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Police officers investigate the scene of a shooting that left one Abbostford Police officer dead in Abbotsford, B.C., on Monday November 6, 2017. BEN NELMS / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Hours after the incident, the strip mall on Mt. Lehman and Cardinal Avenue remained behind police tape with a heavy police presence, including forensic identification officers. A white tent was erected in the parking lot.

A separate crime scene about a block and a half south on Mt. Lehman and Fraser Highway was also surrounded by several police cruisers. Shattered glass can be seen on the ground.

Another person who was in the area told a similar story. 

“People are saying they saw a police officer on the ground who had been shot, and then there was another shooting down the street,” said an employee at the Vi-La Palace Vietnamese restaurant in the Mt. Lehman Centre. “They are not letting any people in and they are not letting any people out. The police have the whole 

 

 

 

 

Rob Gordon, a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University, said it was extremely rare to see an officer shot and killed on the job.

“I cannot remember the last time that a police officer was killed on duty — shot and killed in this kind of arrangement,” Gordon said.

“Police officers are killed from time to time in motor vehicle accidents. … they don’t usually die on the job as a result of criminal activity of that kind.”

Between 1961 and 2009, 10 police officers in B.C. were murdered while in the line of duty, according to a report by Statistics Canada. A review of all officers murdered in the line of duty across Canada found nine-in-ten were shot to death, and one-in-four were killed during a robbery investigation, according to the agency.

The last time police officers were shot and killed in Canada was in 2014, when three Mounties in Moncton, N.B., were murdered by gunman Justin Bourque, Gordon noted. Before that, four Mounties were shot to death in Mayerthorpe, Alberta in 2005 and two Mounties were shot on the job in 2007 – one in the Northwest Territories and one in Nunavut.

The last RCMP officer to be shot and killed on duty in B.C. was Const. Michael Joseph Buday, according to the Mounties’ Honour Roll. The emergency response team member died on March 19, 1985, in the Teslin Lake area.

There have been 16 Vancouver Police Department members killed in the line of duty, according to the department. The last VPD member shot and killed on duty was Sgt. Larry Young in 1987. 

“In B.C. this will stand out as a most unfortunate statistic in that this will be the first killing as a result of shooting in a long time,” Gordon said.

 

— With files from Jennifer Saltman, Scott Brown, Lora Grindlay and Matthew Robinson

 

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Police officers investigate the scene of a shooting that left one Abbostford Police officer dead in Abbotsford, B.C., on Monday November 6, 2017. BEN NELMS / THE CANADIAN PRESS

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Police and officers from the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) on scene after an Abbotsford police officer was fatally shot on Mt. Lehman Road near Fraser Highway in Abbotsford. NICK PROCAYLO / PNG

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Police and officers from the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) on scene after an Abbotsford police officer was fatally shot on Mt. Lehman Road near the Fraser Highway in Abbotsford. NICK PROCAYLO / PNG

 

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Warhippy Canucks Hall-of-Famer

Warhippy

Posted
Posted

Wow...gd that hurts.  Far to close to home.  Have to feel for this officers family.  He was simply doing his job and due to some wack job his family now is without a husband and a father.

 

It's going to be painful coming back to read this thread later but I am hoping that people simply pay their respects and leave off the usual arguments.

 

RIP Sir.

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kingofsurrey Canucks Franchise Player

kingofsurrey

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37 minutes ago, Ryan Strome said:

RIP

 

What the hell is going on down there. Crime is getting bad in Abbotsford, Surrey, Langley, etc.

Actually last 2 murders in Abby have been committed by guys ( Drifters )  from Alberta travelling down to the lower mainland.....

Meth heads from Alberta......

 

What hell is going wrong in Alberta >>>>> 

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Ryan Strome Canucks All-Star

Ryan Strome

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7 minutes ago, kingofsurrey said:

Actually last 2 murders in Abby have been committed by guys ( Drifters )  from Alberta travelling down to the lower mainland.....

Meth heads from Alberta......

 

What hell is going wrong in Alberta >>>>> 

You are something else. Glad to see thats what you add to this thread, pathetic. I'm not comparing provinces I'm just pointing out the lower mainland has had dangerous crime getting worse. This tragic event is a perfect example. If you want to talk about crimes and drugs in Edmonton we can but likely a different thread. 

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kingofsurrey Canucks Franchise Player

kingofsurrey

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19 minutes ago, Ryan Strome said:

You are something else. Glad to see thats what you add to this thread, pathetic. I'm not comparing provinces I'm just pointing out the lower mainland has had dangerous crime getting worse. This tragic event is a perfect example. If you want to talk about crimes and drugs in Edmonton we can but likely a different thread. 

  Crime and drugs are a problem across Canada.  You were making it sound like just  the Lower Mainland is getting worse.

Fact is  that all communities in Western Canada are getting worse with drug / crime issues. 

 

I just pointed out to you that the last 2 tragedies in Abbotsford , the perpetrator has been an Albertan recently moved to the Fraser Valley.

 

Huge tragedy to the officers family.  Such a waste and so sad to see.  Abby has had its fair share of tragedies that last bit.  We are also just trying to deal with the suicide Oct 31 of a young kid that i knew fairly well.  Hung himself in a tree on his old highschool front grounds.   Super nice kid and it is hitting me hard.

 

Save your drama for some other day. 

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kingofsurrey Canucks Franchise Player

kingofsurrey

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11 minutes ago, luckylager said:

Exactly what I was thinking. 

 

The shooter must be one stupid mf. "I don't want to get caught in a stolen car, so I'll kill this cop and they'll never catch me" 

 

 

Makes you  wonder why the guy would be driving around with a shotty in a stolen car. 

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Alflives Canucks Hall-of-Famer

Alflives

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Posted

Our police officers are so heroic it's amazing.  This officer ran into gun fire to protect citizens, knowing the potential of his being shot.  That's the act of a total hero.  Damn, this is really a hard one to accept.  I look at our police officers with great respect, and appreciate everything they do for us.  This is just terrible knowing one of those officers died protecting "us".  

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luckylager Canucks Hall-of-Famer

luckylager

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7 minutes ago, kingofsurrey said:

Makes you  wonder why the guy would be driving around with a shotty in a stolen car. 

In his 60's to boot...

Riding alone

 

Guy wasn't some big shot biker or mafioso, just a stupid a hole that murdered a young man for simply doing his job.

 

Sad stuff. RIP officer

 

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Alflives Canucks Hall-of-Famer

Alflives

Posted
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2 minutes ago, RRypien37 said:

Why wasn't the suspect shot and killed??

As much as I agree with your sentiments, our officers are extremely professional.  Their not killing this guy, is another reason supporting just how amazing they are.  

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RRypien37 Canucks Second-Line

RRypien37

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2 minutes ago, Alflives said:

As much as I agree with your sentiments, our officers are extremely professional.  Their not killing this guy, is another reason supporting just how amazing they are.  

What I meant is there was a shoot out, how was the suspect not hit. 

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Russ Canucks Regular

Russ

Posted
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23 minutes ago, kingofsurrey said:

Makes you  wonder why the guy would be driving around with a shotty in a stolen car. 

Thats the biggest mystery. Why the hell did he have a shotgun and try to steal a car?

 

I just hope our justice system doesn't fail this officer and let this killer walk with a "mentally ill" excuse like it has in the past.  \

 

I play soccer with a bunch of APD guys and when I heard this I was just thinking of each of them and as far as I know it isn't anyone I know thankfully but still very saddened by the event today.  Its hard for the Valley, these crimes and shootings are becoming all to common and frequent every next year it seems.

 

RIP to the officer.

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