‘Everybody still struggles’: Estevan police chief opens up about deadly shooting at HQ

Nearly two years on, Estevan’s police chief said members of the service are still affected by an incident where an officer was shot and a 19-year-old suspect was killed within police headquarters.

The teen, Justice Guillas, had been arrested for the killing of his mother. And, while in an observation room, he grabbed an officer’s gun from his belt holster and shot him with it. After a struggle, a second officer shot Guillas twice. Guillas died from his injuries, and the officer recovered.

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On Thursday, a Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) investigation was released, concluding that the use of force was necessary and there were no grounds to believe a criminal offence was committed by the officers.

Estevan Police Chief Jamie Blunden said he wasn’t surprised, and the report had found just what he’d expected.

As for the service as a whole, he said a critical incident like that affects a lot of people.

“I think everybody still struggles and looks to get some help throughout the time, now even. Our members in Estevan, every one of them that was working, every one of them that is part and parcel of the Estevan Police Service was affected,” Blunden said.

Rich Lowen was chief of the Estevan police service at that time, and Blunden said on Thursday, after the report was released, he listened to a presentation Lowen made about it to the Saskatchewan Marshals Service – he said even Lowen still gets emotional when he talks about what happened.

“Although physically we’ve healed, I think (there’s) more potential to heal mentally,” Blunden explained.

Shortly after the incident, Lowen had put out a public thanks to all those who’d reached out to help the service. Blunden was the chief of the Weyburn Police Service at that time and, along with the Regina Police Service, Moose Jaw Police Service and RCMP, sent officers to Estevan to help.

“Their members that were (in Estevan) were all affected, and they certainly weren’t in a position to take calls and respond to calls for service,” Blunden said.

The officer who was shot in the abdomen, Sgt. Braden Lonsberry is back at work in full capacity now, according to Blunden. Though he said Lonsberry still has some physical issues to deal with.

The SIRT report explained that, as a member of the forensic identification unit, Lonsberry was dressed in a lower level of uniform, closer to civilian clothes, and he was wearing his gun on what’s called a pancake holster clipped to his belt.

Guillas got the gun by grabbing it and the holster off Lonsberry’s belt when he reached across a table.

After the incident, the police service did a review, and Blunden said a new policy was put in place about holsters.

“That only level three holsters were going to be allowed in the rooms, and if you had anything below that, like a level two, it had to get locked up and you would not be able to bring your weapon into the interview rooms,” Blunden said.

He was quick to make clear that this didn’t mean the Lonsberry had any fault in what happened.

“In saying that, we also want to make it a better, a safer place for everybody and as a result, that policy was put in place,” Blunden said.

Now that the SIRT investigation is finished, Blunden said Saskatchewan’s Chief Coroner could still order a public inquest into what happened. He said he doesn’t want his members to have to go through the process and live through the incident again, but the service would certainly cooperate and collaborate with the coroner if that happened.