Sad Saturday Shooting in Smithers

A 24 year old man is in serious condition in a Vancouver hospital after a shooting in Smithers , British Columbia last Saturday. An RCMP officer pulled the suspect over because there was a report of the vehicle being stolen. The man already had a warrant out for his arrest. Evidently, the Police officer ended up being dragged beside the car as the felon put his foot to the floor to escape! The officer managed to free up his weapon and get 4 shots off hitting the man in the chest.

I ponder the logic of approaching this felon w/o "backup". What are they teaching these RCMP during their 2 years in Regina? Bad Police work? The proper thing to do was NOT approach the vehicle until help arrived and the getaway was blocked by fellow officers. I don't blame the BC Police Complaints Comission for taking a look at this fandango..something seems a bit wrong here...and protocols were forgotten. Between Tasers and the high amount of deaths in B.C. for prisoners in custody...it is time to rethink policing in this province.

Witnesses Say Four Shots Fired In Smithers Shooting

By 250 News

Sunday, November 22, 2009 03:24 PM

Smithers, B.C. - While the RCMP says they are not likely to provide the information immediately, Opinion250 readers have suggested that 4 shots were fired by a police officer in Smithers during an arrest of a man wanted in connection with the theft of a truck. Highway 16 which was closed moments after the shooting at 11:51am Saturday was reopened at about 2:00PM Sunday afternoon. The closure in effect while police officers investigated the scene. RCMP say Houston RCMP advised Smithers RCMP that a stolen truck was making its way west on Highway 16, just after 11:00 a.m. yesterday. A lone police officer pulled the truck over at Tatlow Road in Smithers. According to the police report, two other police officers arrived within seconds . The police issued release says "While attempting to remove the driver of the truck the vehicle accelerated dragging the officer. The officer discharged his firearm and the driver was struck." Some residents are reporting four shots were fired. A 24 year old man was taken to hospital in Smithers and then quickly transferred to Vancouver in serious but stable condition according to police. Constable Craig Douglass of the RCMP said today the RCMP did not have an update on the condition of the man who was shot, and was not able to confirm reports the wounded man is from California. A senior officer from the Saanich police department has been on the scene conducting an independent investigation and the Office of the Public Complaints Commission for the RCMP has been contacted. Constable Douglass says because the incident happened at the noon hour in almost the center of Smithers a lot of people have come forward as witnesses.

It's getting dangerous to live up North..and I thought the big city I recently fled had problems!

Saturday's shooting follows two fatal RCMP shootings in September. On Sept. 30, police fatally shot a 41-year-old German-speaking farmer near Buick Creek, north of Fort St. John after he chased a van with his wife and 11 children, shot out its tires and holed himself up in his home for several days. When he left the home with a rifle, emergency-response members fired on the car, killing him.

On Sept. 26, the RCMP shot and killed Rodney Shane Jackson, 35, a member of the Gitanmaax band of the Gitxsan First Nation who had been hiding out for more than a year to evade police. He was wanted on five arrest warrants for assault, drug trafficking and uttering threats.

Here's a sad song to go with the story...a ballad!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJxt17_dizE