Mountie stabbed in Kelowna

A Kelowna RCMP member fired his weapon at a man who had stabbed him in the head during an altercation in a downtown alley early Sunday.

The shot missed, but the man began harming himself in the neck with the knife he’d just used to attack the police officer.

Two citizens came to the aid of the wounded officer, who was stabbed above one of his eyes, RCMP Insp. Adam MacIntosh said Monday as he described the dramatic events that played out in the alley of the 1000 block of Ellis Street in the downtown north end.

“This officer was faced with a fight for their life and both their training and their resilience prevailed in that alley Sunday morning,” McIntosh said.

The unidentified officer, an eightyear veteran of the force, was treated and released from hospital. The suspect was also treated in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the wounds he inflicted on himself, MacIntosh said.

MacIntosh praised the efforts of the two citizens to come to the aid of the wounded officer, saying their intervention likely prevented the incident from taking an even more serious turn.

“It could have been the difference-maker, absolutely,” he said.

Police got a call about 11:50 p.m. Saturday about people camping on private property in the rear of a building in the 1000 block of Ellis. Within a minute of arriving on the scene, the officer radioed for help, saying he’d been stabbed in the head.

While struggling to get control of the suspect, the officer fired his weapon, MacIntosh said. “The officer did fire at least one shot and the individual was not hit by gunfire,” he said. “The injuries sustained by the individual were all self-inflicted. Police did not injure him in any way beyond physically taking him down for the arrest.”

Within a couple minutes of calling for help, the wounded officer was joined by at least five other RCMP members, MacIntosh said, noting the main detachment is only a few blocks from where the attack occurred.

Richard McCrea, 39, has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault of a police officer, attempting to disarm a police officer, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and resisting arrest. He has been remanded in custody under the Mental Health Act and has a court appearance set for April 11.

Asked if police work in Kelowna was getting more dangerous for front-line officers, MacIntosh said: “We are dealing with a greater number of individuals with complex issues, often that relate to mental health, trauma, and illicit drug use.”

“They become a police issue, in part, due to a lack of services that exist within the community, and I would suggest within the province, to support these individuals,” he said.

When they received the first call, police had no information that suggested one of the people in the alley might be armed, or that more than one officer was needed to deal with the situation, MacIntosh said.

“The information on this particular call gave no rise initially to the need for a multiple member response,” he said.