Man accused of shooting RCMP officer pleads guilty to attempted murder

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This article was published 31/01/2019 (2192 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — The man accused of shooting a Manitoba RCMP officer and sparking a massive manhunt in the Riding Mountain National Park area last year has pleaded guilty to attempted murder.

Therae Racette-Beaulieu pleaded guilty Thursday in Brandon provincial court to one count each of attempted murder, break-and-enter, theft of firearms, and robbery of a motor vehicle. Sentencing is set for March 21 at the Neepawa courthouse. He remains in custody.

The charges stem from an Aug. 29, 2018, incident that started with a truck being stolen near Onanole, a small community on the fringe of Riding Mountain, some 90 kilometres north of Brandon.

According to details read in court Thursday by Crown attorney Mike Himmelman, Racette-Beaulieu (who was 18 at the time of his arrest) had been hiding in the truck owner’s garage, and struck the man over the head with a rake when the property owner arrived.

One of the other three co-accused — which of the three men was unclear in court — also hid in the garage and was the one who stole the truck, according to Himmelman — a charge yet to be proven in court.

The two men then fled the scene.

Later in the day, Racette-Beaulieu and the three other co-accused from Portage la Prairie — Tommy Edward Beaulieu, Shane Donovan Beaulieu and Delaney Marcus Houle — allegedly broke into another house, where they stole five firearms, including a camouflage-coloured shotgun, and a quantity of ammunition.

The property owner was remotely alerted to the break-in and contacted police.

RCMP officers arrived at the scene around 9:30 p.m. and blocked the accused from escaping in the stolen truck. The truck was forced into a dugout and the accused fled on foot.

Cpl. Graeme Kingdon pursued Racette-Beaulieu to the brush line, when Racette-Beaulieu fired a shotgun round at the police officer, striking him in the head.

Kingdon suffered a fractured skull. RCMP said Thursday he continues to recover.

The other officer at the scene responded and tried to secure the injured Kingdon, but Racette-Beaulieu fired another round at the officers, which hit the truck. He fired a third shot, emptying the gun, as the officers called for assistance.

Police found Racette-Beaulieu’s fingerprints on the barrel of the shotgun used in the incident, the Crown said.

Shane Beaulieu was arrested the next morning on a gravel road near the scene. Houle and Racette-Beaulieu were arrested soon after at a police roadblock.

Tommy Beaulieu was arrested in Neepawa (some 50 kilometres from Onanole) that afternoon, after a standoff with police.

— with files from The Canadian Press

— Brandon Sun