Mountie shot in head, court told in bail hearing

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This article was published 29/10/2018 (2286 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — Harrowing details surrounding the August shooting of an RCMP officer near Onanole emerged in court Monday, including how the officer was shot in the back of the head after running the suspects off the road with his police cruiser.

Crown attorney Grant Hughes recounted the sequence of events during a bail hearing in Brandon provincial court for one of the four accused: 23-year-old Delaney Houle, who is facing multiple charges, including break and enter, theft and aggravated assault.

Houle is the third accused to apply for bail and the second to receive it, following Shane Beaulieu, whom the Crown consented to release earlier this month.

Tommy Beaulieu, who is facing similar charges, had his bail application denied and remains in custody.

Therae Racette-Beaulieu, who is facing similar charges — in addition to two counts of attempted murder and possession of property obtained by crime — also remains in custody.

None of the charges have been proven in court and all four accused are presumed innocent.

On Aug. 29, Wasagaming RCMP received a report of a break-and-enter in progress, Hughes said.

The caller advised police he had received a notification on his smartphone from security cameras on the premises, and reported a group of men in a pickup truck on the property.

Surveillance footage captured four individuals going through various buildings and trailers on the property, Hughes said, and one of them could be seen carrying a firearm.

As police were approaching the property, they met the suspects’ truck coming down the road, Hughes said. One of the responding officers, Cpl. Graeme Kingdon, pulled into the front of the truck, forcing it off the road, where it got stuck in a hole.

Officers reported three suspects got out of the truck and ran into nearby bushes.

Kingdon was approaching the truck when he was shot in the back of the head, Hughes said.

Another officer on scene heard the shot and found Kingdon crouching down on the ground, bleeding. He asked Kingdon if he had been shot, and Kingdon responded he wasn’t sure.

That’s when police reported hearing a second shot — later determined to be two separate shots fired in quick succession — but didn’t see where it came from, Hughes said.

Kingdon suffered a fractured skull from several pellets being embedded into the lower back of his head and neck, the Crown attorney said.

“They weren’t able to remove all the pellets. Several of them are still within his body,” Hughes said, adding Kingdon is in stable condition and has since been released from hospital.

The suspects’ truck had been reported stolen earlier that evening from Portage la Prairie, Hughes said. The owner of the truck told police a man had hit him with a rake, before taking off in his vehicle.

Several items that had been reported stolen were located in the truck’s box, including five long guns, Hughes said.

All four of the suspects allegedly involved in the shooting were taken into custody the following day.

— Brandon Sun