On Sunday, a solemn march was held in Victoria, involving hundreds of police and emergency response officers from various regions of the province. This event marked the annual B.C. Law Enforcement Memorial, which is observed every September to pay tribute to fallen officers on National Police and Peace Officers’ Memorial Day.
This year’s procession took on a particularly somber note as it occurred just two days after the tragic shooting death of Constable Rick O’Brien, aged 51, a member of the Ridge Meadows RCMP. Constable O’Brien lost his life while carrying out a search warrant in Coquitlam, B.C., a city located 25 kilometers east of Vancouver. Two other officers were also injured during this incident.
This incident involving Constable O’Brien is sadly the ninth case of a police officer being killed in the line of duty in Canada over the past year, including two in British Columbia.
On the following day, the British Columbia prosecution service approved charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder with a firearm against a 25-year-old individual named Nicholas Bellemare, in connection with the aforementioned incident.
The memorial events took place near the provincial Legislature in Victoria, where a monument dedicated to officers who lost their lives in the line of duty was established in 2004. During these events, Mike Farnworth, the Public Safety Minister of British Columbia, expressed condolences to Constable O’Brien’s family, as well as to the Coquitlam and Ridge Meadows detachments. He acknowledged the immense sorrow and hardship faced by policing communities across Canada in the past year, recognizing the pain felt by families, friends, and fellow officers.
The memorial ceremony in Victoria featured various solemn tributes. A member of the RCMP played the trumpet in honor of the fallen officers, while others fired rifles into the air as a mark of mourning. Additionally, wreaths were laid to remember deceased colleagues. Fire trucks played their part by extending their cranes, adorned with large Canadian and B.C. flags, over the street, creating a poignant backdrop for law enforcement forces to march beneath. This included motorbike units and bagpipe players, all coming together to pay their respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.