Published Sep 23, 2023 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 5 minute read
A memorial was set up at the Ridge Meadows RCMP Detachment for 51-year-old Const. Rick O’Brien, who was killed in the line of duty Friday. Photo by Jason Payne /POSTMEDIA
VANCOUVER — A decorated RCMP officer was killed and two other Mounties were seriously injured after a police search at a Coquitlam condo complex escalated into a deadly gun battle.
Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, the commanding officer for B.C. RCMP, said 51-year-old Const. Rick O’Brien was shot and killed. He had joined the RCMP in 2016.
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The City of Pitt Meadows confirmed in a statement that O’Brien worked for the local detachment.
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“Our heartfelt condolences go to the families of the victims as well as our local officers. The city is committed to providing support in any way we can and will be lowering flags to half mast at all city buildings.”
RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team and the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. were investigating as a suspect was also seriously injured.
Clark said police were doing a search with a warrant in a building at Pinetree Way and Glen Drive on Friday morning when a man and the officers became involved in a confrontation.
Several officers were taken to hospital. O’Brien, who had been shot, died of his injuries at the scene.
At a news conference, Ridge Meadows RCMP Supt. Wendy Mehat said the two injured officers were expected to survive.
“The loss of Rick will be felt deeply by his family, his colleagues and the community of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows and Coquitlam and across the country. Rick’s contribution to his work and his fellow team members … was immeasurable,” Mehat said.
“Rick loved visiting schools and helping students, doing presentations, supporting our detachment food drives and sport events.
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“He was a highly decorated police officer and he was recognized for his bravery. He was truly exceptional, a hard worker and a good human being. His death is senseless and heartbreaking. He simply went to work (Friday) and was killed keeping his community safe.”
McDonald said in a statement that one injured officer was already recovering at home on Friday afternoon and the other was in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“To say that (Friday) has been struggle is an understatement,” McDonald said.
“The RCMP family is gutted. We are just days away from the B.C. law enforcement memorial in Victoria that honours our fallen and about to approach the one-year anniversary of our previous tragic loss in Burnaby, Const. (Shaelyn) Yang.”
Carley Hodges and Tracy Joseph were on their way to their car after an exam at a Coquitlam college when they found themselves in the middle of a real-time police drama.
“It was kind of scary. There were a bunch of (police) cars and ambulances and more just kept coming and coming and coming and their tires were screeching,” Joseph said.
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“We saw one officer, he had a tourniquet on his leg and it was bleeding and another officer was helping him walk,” she said.
They saw another officer having his chest compressed as he was wheeled toward an ambulance in front of the building at 3007 Glen Dr., a residential highrise called the Evergreen with commercial and retail outlets, including a pharmacy and daycare on the ground floor.
They watched from metres away as officers escorted a man wearing only boxers with blood on him from the building.
The two women said what first attracted their attention when they passed through the intersection, not far from Coquitlam City Hall and the RCMP detachment, was an officer dressed in black carrying a rifle.
The building manager of the condo complex said he was working in his office when a resident contacted him to say that police had swarmed the area. He said police, some carrying “high-powered guns,” later instructed him to notify all residents in the building to stay put and away from the windows.
“They are shocked,” said the building manager, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons. “They are scared. Most residents are seniors.”
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William Bone lives on the 23rd floor of the Evergreen and said he heard loud bangs in quick succession that were so unusual and loud that he called his building manager to complain. He was told police were in the building.
“They started banging on doors and told us we would have to leave,” said Bone, who works from home. “They came in and checked our place to make sure no one was in there.”
They were directed to take the stairs and, passing by the 22nd, he saw a SWAT member with a dog in the hallway. He was allowed to return to the unit at 5 p.m.
“My heart goes out to RCMP officers across the country, to peace officers,” Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said as he stood at the corner Friday afternoon while police cruisers, including some from surrounding jurisdictions, gathered with their lights flashing. “I know that all of their hearts are bleeding right now.”
RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien, who died in a shooting at a Coquitlam condo complex on Friday, had joined the force in 2016. Photo by Government of B.C. /Handout
Officers, some in uniform and wearing bulletproof vests, but most in street clothes, stood chatting in groups in the middle of the closed intersection behind yellow police tape. Some hugged one another. Officers on motorbikes also joined the group.
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Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth sent his “deepest condolences” to O’Brien’s family and colleagues.
“Beneath the uniform an officer is a person with a family, friends and dreams,” Farnworth said in a statement. “They believe in their communities and sacrifice of themselves to keep us all safe …
“My thoughts are also with the other two officers who were wounded in this terrible incident. All three officers are shining examples of the extraordinary individuals who chose to take on the challenging mantle of protecting the public.”
Elenore Sturko, the B.C. United MLA for Surrey South and a former RCMP officer, said she was devastated that an officer had died in the line of service.
“I just look at my own badge and I just think like, ‘Wow, here we have someone who has paid the ultimate sacrifice.’ It’s just absolutely devastating to know that this unfolded (Friday).”
O’Brien worked for the Pitt Meadows RCMP detachment in the uniformed community response unit.
That unit focuses on community-based policing and outreach to youth, unhoused people and First Nations, as well as working with general duty officers.
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He and six other Mounties disrupted a violent home invasion during his first few months of duty, earning O’Brien a commissioner’s commendation and medal of valour.
Before joining the RCMP, O’Brien worked as an education assistant, mental health and youth worker. Media reports said he was originally from Ottawa.
In an online biography, he credited that work for giving him “patience, understanding, desire and work ethic to do his job as a police officer effectively.”
According to the bio posted for the Gratitude and Appreciation Summit, where he was recently a speaker, O’Brien and his wife, Nicole, have six children.
On Saturday, the RCMP announced that Nicholas Bellemare, 25, of Coquitlam, had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of O’Brien.
With files from Katie DeRosa, Kim Bolan and The Canadian Press
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