yet another RCMP officer is has been shot in Canada. My prayers go out to the families. Doug was 20 years old and loved his country. He will be missed dearly. rest in peace.
OTTAWA — An RCMP officer has been shot dead while answering a drunk-driving call in Nunavut, the second Mountie to be killed in the Arctic in a month.
Const. Douglas Scott, 20, was killed at about 11 p.m. Monday in Kimmirut, a community of about 400 people on Baffin Island.
Supt. Martin Cheliak told a news conference in Iqaluit that the alleged killer surrendered early Tuesday and is in custody.
“The death of any of our members is deeply felt, but when once again it occurs in one of our close-knit communities in the North, the pain of that loss seems even greater,” said Cheliak, commanding officer of the RCMP in Nunavut.
“With any death in a family like ours, it’s tragic. I don’t think that it’s really truly sunk in yet for all of our members, myself included.”
Cheliak expressed his sympathies to Scott’s parents, who live near Brockville, Ont.
“Doug was just 20 years old, but already had demonstrated his commitment to the RCMP, to Canada and to the community he willingly served in Nunavut,” said Cheliak.
Scott was called to respond to a complaint of a suspected drunk driver about 10:50 p.m. Monday. He was last heard from at 11:02 p.m. when he called in to confirm he was following up on the complaint.
“Shortly thereafter, V Division telecoms attempted to contact Const. Scott but received no response,” said Cheliak.
At 11:31 p.m., another Mountie was told by local residents that Scott had responded to the call and that the impaired driver had crashed into a house.
“Upon arrival at the scene, it was found that our member had been shot. At 11:45 p.m., V Division’s emergency response team was mobilized.
“At 4:10 a.m. — early this morning — the suspect surrendered to police without incident and was taken into custody.”
The suspect was taken to Iqaluit by RCMP aircraft. He has not yet been charged.
An officer was killed in the Northwest Territories in October.