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Died 7/8/21
BC RCMP shoot knifeman dead after police dog stabbed to death
The Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia (IIO BC) has been called to the scene of an incident near Campbell River that left both a man and RCMP service dog Gator dead. On Thursday, just before 9:00 a.m., a Campbell River RCMP officer tried to stop a vehicle related to an outstanding warrant. RCMP said the vehicle did not stop and instead fled the area. But it was quickly located in a parking lot in the 2000 block of the South Island Highway in Campbell River. A police officer blocked the vehicle from leaving, which caused a confrontation to occur between the suspect and the police officer. The officer’s service dog was fatally stabbed and the suspect was then shot and killed by the Mountie, who also suffered a knife wound. “He went to climb out the passenger side, unfortunately, he grabbed the police canine which is treated as an officer and stabbed that dog and they shot him at that time,” said one witness who didn’t want to be identified. “I saw a downed dog kind of pulled out of the scene before the shots were fired,” said Taylor Stephen who witnessed the shooting from across the road. “Guns were drawn, probably 45 seconds to a minute of ‘get out of the car you’re under arrest put your hands up’ kind of thing and then six or eight shots rang out,” he added. In the parking lot of the Tim Hortons, it appeared that a vehicle was boxed in by police vehicles and there appeared to be a body under a blanket beside the vehicles. The area has been taped off in anticipation of the arrival of IIO sBC, who will be investigating. The BC RCMP said they will release more information regarding the service dog Gator later Thursday, but all other information relating to the incident will be released by the IIO BC, as the matter is now in their hands. Police Service Dog Gator joined the force in June 2016 where he spent his entire career with his handler at the Campbell River detachment. “The loss of Campbell River’s Police Dog Service Gator today, is something I never thought I would have to endure. The importance of the role he played in keeping our community safe will not be forgotten,” Insp. Jeff Preston, officer in charge of the Campbell River RCMP wrote in a statement. Gator was previously named Campbell River’s Mountie of the Month for his work, notably assisting in an arrest following an armed grocery store robbery and locating a distressed man during snowy weather.
