A MANHUNT IS under way in the the east coast Canadian province of New Brunswick after three police officers were shot dead and two other injured.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Damien Theriault said police responded to a call about an armed man in the north end of the city of Moncton at 7:30 p.m last evening. Three of the responding officers were killed and two sustained non-life threatening injuries and were in stable condition.
“We are still actively looking for the shooter,” Theriault said. “He is believed to still be in the Pinehurst subdivision area of Moncton. We are urging people in that area to stay inside and lock their doors and for people to say away from that area.”
Asked how he was dealing with his grief, Theriault said he personally knew the officers before breaking down and excusing himself because he couldn’t complete his sentence.
Police said they were looking for 24-year-old Justin Bourque of Moncton — a city of about 69,000 people about 95 miles (150 kilometers) northeast of the capital of St. John, New Brunswick.
The police force tweeted this image of a suspect wearing military camouflage and wielding two guns:
The manhunt is continuing this morning…
Witnesses
Danny Leblanc, 42, said he saw the shooter in the distance Wednesday evening, wearing a camouflage outfit and standing in the middle of the street with his gun pointed at police cars.
The construction worker said he believed it was an RCMP officer he was looking at until he heard a burst of automatic gunfire coming from the man’s gun.
He said he quickly retreated into his home and remained there with his family. At one point a neighbor posted on social media that their kitchen window was shattered by gunfire.
Leblanc said few people on his normally quiet street were sleeping as they awaited word at midnight on whether arrests had been made.
Word that police had been killed shocked the city, Leblanc said.
“It’s devastating. I don’t know if he was on a hunt for them, or what,” he said.
Police had a number of roads in the city blocked and traffic was backed up on major arteries across the city. Drivers were also asked to stay out of the area.
Warnings
Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc urged all residents to pay strict attention to the RCMP warnings.
“It is a terrible tragedy,” he said. “We as a city must pull together as a family to support those who have suffered losses.”
Such violence is rare in Canada, particularly on the East Coast. Theriault said the city of Moncton didn’t have a homicide last year or this year until last evening.
“We have been blessed until this point,” he told The Associated Press.
He said other RCMP officers from around Atlantic Canada are in Moncton assisting with the search.
Additional reporting, Daragh Brophy.
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