Suspect killed, RCMP officer wounded in shootout near Lloydminster

A man from the Lloydminster area was killed and an RCMP officer was wounded during a shootout Saturday in Waseca, a town about 40 kilometres southeast of Lloydminster.

The RCMP said in a media release Sunday the Battlefords RCMP Gang Task Force began an investigation in October into drug and weapons trafficking in west-central Saskatchewan. According to the Mounties, the investigation determined cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and guns were being trafficked in and around North Battleford.

On Saturday, officers and members of the Critical Incident Response Team executed a search warrant just before noon at a commercial property in Waseca.

Police found four people in the building. Two men and a woman left the building after negotiations and after what police said was “the use of non-lethal methods.”

Another man initially didn’t come out of the building. When he finally did, he and police exchanged gunfire and the man was killed.

The family of the 33-year-old man has been notified of his death.

One RCMP officer went to hospital with what police said was a non-life-threatening injury. The Mounties didn’t provide any other information about the officer’s injuries.

The Saskatchewan RCMP has asked the Saskatoon Police Service to investigate the circumstances surrounding the man’s death. The Ministry of Justice also has been asked to appoint an independent investigation observer.

“The Saskatchewan RCMP takes these matters very seriously,” Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, the commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, said in the release.

“We are giving the external investigators at the Saskatoon Police Service our full co-operation as they conduct an independent, external investigation into the circumstances surrounding what happened. My thoughts are with our injured officer, the community, and the family of the deceased.”

The RCMP said there will be an increased police presence in Waseca while the investigation continues.