Canadian police officer slain, two officers injured while serving arrest warrant in Vancouver suburb

COQUITLAM, British Columbia (AP) — A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer was shot to death and two other officers were injured while trying to serve an arrest warrant in a Vancouver suburb Friday, authorities said.

The Independent Investigations Office, British Columbia’s police watchdog, said the shooting happened when officers had an altercation with a man in Coquitlam, a town about 30 kilometers (about 18 miles) east of Vancouver.

The suspect, in his mid-20s, was also shot and is in a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, the office said.

Dwayne McDonald, Surrey RCMP deputy commissioner, identified the deceased officer as Constable Rick O’ Brien, a 51-year-old married father. McDonald said he died at the scene.

McDonald said one injured officer had been released after treatment at a hospital and the other remained in hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Carley Hodges, a witness to the incident in a busy area of Coquitlam, described a chaotic scene: An officer was receiving CPR as he was put in an ambulance. Another officer had a wound in his leg and a tourniquet placed above it. A man in handcuffs was being taken away.

The City of Pitt Meadows said in a statement that Ridge Meadows RCMP lost an officer Friday and that it was sending condolences to the families of the victims as well as to local officers.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team took over the investigation into the death of the officer and the injuries to their colleagues. The Independent Investigations Office said it would examine the actions of the officers.