Sask RCMP fired 3 shots at man with knife: witness

The Canadian Press

Updated: Wed. Jul. 23 2008 5:27 PM ET

CTV News

MAYFAIR, Sask. — RCMP officers fired three shots Wednesday at a man who wouldn't drop his knife following a high-speed chase near a tiny Saskatchewan community.

Witness John Vargo said he first heard sirens and saw dust flying as RCMP cruisers chased a truck down a dirt road near the local garbage dump.

Vargo said he got into his own truck to follow the excitement. The other vehicles had all stopped beside a pasture.

"The guy was walking into the field, holding a knife in his hand," said Vargo. "And the cops told him to drop the knife."

Vargo said he decided he should head back to work at the garbage site. "And as I was backing out of there, I heard three shots."

RCMP Sgt. Carole Raymond said the shooting occurred about 9:45 a.m. near the hamlet of Mayfair, about 200 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. She said two officers from the Spiritwood detachment were involved.

The victim, who appeared to be in his 50s, was taken with undetermined injuries to Battlefords Union Hospital.

Raymond could not comment on the victim or his medical status.

Keith Kennedy, a truck driver from Mayfair, said he knew the man who was shot as another truck driver from Saskatoon.

Kennedy said the man had been camping in a tent at a lake near Mayfair. He was looking at lots in the area because he wanted to build a log cabin there.

The man had recently spoken with the RCMP, because he had reported a stereo stolen out of his boat and had found an injured woman on a road near Prince Albert, Kennedy said.

"He was apparently in the cop shop for the last two days," he said.

The Saskatchewan RCMP have been involved in two other encounters involving gun fire recently.

An RCMP officer shot and killed a 21-year-old man on the White Bear reserve in June.

In July, an officer shot and injured a 34-year-old man in Southend, about 600 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon. RCMP said the man was holding a weapon.

Two RCMP officers from the Spiritwood detachment were shot and killed two years ago during a pursuit down back roads in the area. The man charged with their first-degree murder has yet to stand trial.