Mountie gets his man, a fellow officer, in the leg

August 31st, 2007 · No Comments

Nadia Moharib, Sun Media

Mounties are trying to find out how an Emergency Response Team member ended up shooting and wounding a fellow-officer as they raided a home near Sundre on a search warrant for illegal firearms.The Mountie, from Calgary, is expected to make a full recovery after being shot in the lower leg from a MP5 semi-automatic rifle about 5 a.m. yesterday as they searched a trailer, RCMP spokesman Sgt. Patrick Webb said.

Investigators are trying to determine if the friendly-fire was an accidental weapon discharge, malfunction or if there was some other reason behind the shooting.

Meanwhile, fellow-ERT members from another team conducting a search warrant nearby managed to avoid injury after a man fired twice from his bedroom after cops stormed the home just west of Sundre on Hwy. 27.

There was no return fire from Mounties and no one was injured.

“These are always dangerous situations,” Webb said.

Charges are pending against the civilian who fired shots and an investigation is underway in to both incidents, Webb said.

“We will find out what actually transpired and we will learn from this happening and adjust our training as required,” Webb said.

Five people were detained while Mounties yesterday continued searched for illegal weapons at the properties.