RCMP say officers were responding to a break-and-enter call in western Manitoba when they came under fire the minute they got out of their cruisers.
Assistant Commissioner Scott Kolody, commanding officer of the RCMP in Manitoba, says one officer was hit and seriously injured at about 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday just outside the town of Onanole.
RCMP say the officers did not return fire.
Kolody says the injured corporal is in stable but serious condition in hospital.
At least one suspect fled in a truck
Three suspects have been arrested but another is still at large.
Kolody says the suspects split up after the shooting at a rural property — some on foot and at least one other in a truck which has not been located yet.
He says anyone who sees the Black 2005 GMC Sierra extended cab pickup should call 911.
Kolody said Thursday he had already visited the injured officer’s family in hospital.
“They are deeply shaken by this incident,” he said. “The RCMP is truly a large family and what has unfolded over the last few hours truly affects every officer and employee from coast to coast.”
The injured officer is a passionate, dedicated man, Kolody said.
Craig Atkinson, a rural municipal councillor who lives near Onanole, said he understood the arrests happened Thursday morning, just southeast of the community along or near a provincial highway.
“I believe (the suspects) were seen or reported to be breaking into people’s houses.”
Atkinson, who is also the superintendent at the nearby Riding Mountain National Park golf course, said the shooting happened in a rural area not far from Onanole, about three kilometres from where he lives.
He said there was a “heavy police presence” in and around the community during the overnight search for suspects and everybody was on edge.
“I know they had RCMP officers from all over the area … apparently up to about 60. Everybody was certainly aware, if they were awake, of what was going on last night.”
Onanole is about 100 kilometres north of Brandon.
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