A procession for a fallen Ridge Meadows RCMP officer made its way through Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows Friday evening, Sept. 22, with an escort of about 70 police vehicles.
Police officers blocked intersections along Lougheed Highway and Dewdney Trunk Road as they escorted the body of Maple Ridge Mountie Const. Frederick (Rick) O’Brien to Abbotsford.
First responders in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge lined the roads to salute the fallen officer who was killed in the line of duty during a police incident in Coquitlam earlier in the day.
O’Brien, 51, was a seven-year member with the detachment and was one of several officers executing a search warrant on a residence in Coquitlam, near the intersection of Pinetree Way and Glen Drive.
BC RCMP Commanding Officer Dwayne McDonald said he couldn’t comment on the “theme” of the search warrant, but it was a long-term investigation.
McDonald confirmed there was an altercation between the officers and a man, which led to multiple officers being injured and the man being shot. McDonald said the suspect, a man in his mid-20s, was known to police.
B.C. Emergency Health Services transported them to hospital, but O’Brien died of his injuries. The other two officers were treated for their injuries and have since been released from hospital.
READ MORE: Ridge Meadows Mountie killed, 2 other officers injured in Coquitlam incident
McDonald said the injured male suspect is still in hospital with what are described as non-life-threatening injuries.
O’Brien was married with children.
Pitt Meadows fire chief Stephan Drolet said his team was there to honour the fallen members.
“We’re all one big first responder family, so we are here to support our brothers and sisters with the RCMP,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Drolet said, they lowered their flag to half mast and delivered a flower arrangement to the community policing office. Flags are also flying at half mast at the Ridge Meadows main detachment in Maple Ridge.
“So that our brothers and sisters with the RCMP in Ridge Meadows know we are standing strong with them,” Drolet said of the gesture.