Thread: Canadian border guard shot near Vancouver

Canadian border guard shot near Vancouver: reports


CBC – 15 minutes ago


A Canadian border guard has been shot and wounded at the Peace Arch crossing into the U.S. south of Vancouver, reports say.

The Canadian Border Services Agency confirms there has been an emergency incident, but would not confirm that shots were fired.

The reports say the female CBSA officer was shot in the neck by a suspect who then took his own life.

The officer has been airlifted to hospital. Her condition is not known.
Northbound traffic from the U.S. at the Peace Arch has been halted since the incident occurred at about 2 p.m. PT.

More to come

Canadian border guard shot near Vancouver: reports - Yahoo! News Canada

The suspect was entering the country in a white Ford Econovan with Washington plates registered to a man from Bremerton. Mounties have not yet confirmed his identity . . .

Canadian border guard shot at Peace Arch crossing in Surrey

U.S. motorist wounds Canadian border officer in shooting, then kills self - CNN.com

B.C. border guard struck with same bullet that killed shooter

CTV News Channel: Border guard was not a target

Merella Fernandez says the B.C. border guard was not the intended target, as she was accidentally shot.


Published Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 9:10AM EDT
Last Updated Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 11:21AM EDT

The Canadian border guard shot in her booth at the Douglas Border Crossing in Surrey, B.C. was struck by the same bullet the shooter used to kill himself.

A source at the Customs and Immigration Union that represents Canadian border guards told CTV News that a male suspect shot himself in the head and the bullet hit the guard accidentally.

The female guard, identified as Lori Bowcock, was airlifted to hospital Tuesday after being shot by the lone gunman entering Canada from the United States.

It appears the bullet struck her in the neck, RCMP said.

She remains in "stable" condition, said Sgt. Jennifer Pound of the RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

Peter Leon, of the Ontario Provincial Police, told CTV News that Bowcock had previously worked as a dispatcher at the OPP's communications centre in London, Ont.

“As an organization she was part of before, we are concerned with her well-being and her recovery,” Leon said. “Our thoughts go out to her family at this time.”

RCMP say the male suspect was driving a white van with Washington state license plates, but it’s unclear whether he actually owned the vehicle.

Politicians in British Columbia and Washington have said that both jurisdictions will work together on the shooting investigation, which includes surveillance tape and witness testimony.

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire said Tuesday that she considers the Canadian guards at Douglas Border Crossing an “extension of the Washington family.”

Luc Portelance, President of the Canada Border Services Agency, has called the incident a “profound reminder of the risks that border services officers assume every day.”

The Douglas Border Crossing, which links Surrey and Blaine, Washington, is also known as the Peace Arch border. About 4,800 vehicles pass through the crossing during peak periods.

The crossing remained closed to traffic Wednesday morning. DriveBC, a travel information agency, estimates the crossing will re-open at 4 p.m.

B.C. border guard struck with same bullet that killed shooter | CTV News

Border gunman identified as Washington man

CBC News

Posted: Oct 17, 2012 4:53 PM PT
Last Updated: Oct 17, 2012 5:43 PM PT

The man who shot a border officer south of Vancouver on Tuesday and then fatally turned the weapon on himself has been identified as Andrew Michael Crews, CBC News has learned.

The name was confirmed by the B.C. Coroners Service Wednesday.

Crews, 32, was a resident of Bremerton, Wash.

Crews drove to the Peace Arch border crossing Tuesday just before 2 p.m. PT and shot Canadian border officer Lori Bowcock who was staffing a kiosk, dealing with people entering Canada by car from Washington.

Bowcock was shot in the neck and airlifted to hospital, where she underwent surgery and is in stable condition. Officials said Wednesday she is expected to make a full recovery.

Crews then shot himself and died at the scene, inside the vehicle he was driving, a white van with Washington licence plates.

Crews is believed to have been a tattoo artist working in a tattoo parlour in Silverdale, Wash., about 20 kilometres west of Seattle.

Crews had moved to Bremerton from Las Vegas, where he also worked as an artist. A former work colleague was stunned to hear what Crews had done.

"He was happy-go-lucky. He loved music and art, always fun," said Shannon Bundy, of the Showroom Tattoo Parlor. "I just talked to him two weeks ago and it sounded like life was going good. I don't have any idea why this would happen."

Border gunman identified as Washington man - British Columbia - CBC News