The RCMP officer injured in a shootout west of Edmonton Thursday evening has been identified as 59-year-old Sgt. Brian Topham.
Topham was airlifted to an Edmonton hospital in stable condition with a gunshot wound after a shootout near Evansburg, Alberta, with a murder suspect wanted on a warrant for first-degree murder in connection with the death of a woman in Calgary.
“I can tell you that he is still in the hospital but he's in good spirits and he’s recovering well," Cpl. Laurel Scott told CTV News.
Premier Rachel Notley said she was concerned about the shootout on Highway 16, but relieved to hear that Topham was recovering.
I want to thank the officers from the many different detachments who came to help. We stand with police and all first responders across the province as they protect our communities and put the wellbeing of Albertans above all else. 2/3
— Rachel Notley (@RachelNotley) March 30, 2018
'They really started loading on each other'
Abderrahmane ‘Adam’ Bettahar was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for allegedly killing his ex-girlfriend, 22-year-old Nadia El-Dib, last Sunday. He was shot and killed after a lengthy chase with RCMP on Highway 16 between Evansburg and Entwistle, sources told CTV.
Bettahar was located by a police officer in Evansburg at approximately 5:15 p.m. The pursuit ensued after the police attempted to stop the suspect and he fled.
After multiple attempts, police deflated Bettahar’s tire, bringing the chase to a stop eastbound at Highways 16 and 22 North around 6:30 p.m., RCMP said.
The 21-year-old got out of the vehicle and began to fire his gun, the province said.
A St. Albert man travelling to Jasper witnessed the confrontation between Bettahar and members of multiple Alberta RCMP detachments.
“The guy in the blue truck, he took a shot at the police car, at which point I started panicking,” Steve Hargreaves said. “They really started to load on each other. There must have been, I don’t know, maybe 20 shots fired or something like that, between the guy on his knees and the policemen. And at that point we just laid down in the car and went as fast as a Dodge Caravan can go. But we were basically travelling through the line of fire behind the police. It was really, really surreal. You don’t expect situations like that.”
Bettahar was killed and a police officer suffered non-life threatening injuries in the exchange, and was airlifted to an Edmonton hospital in stable condition.
No other injuries have been reported.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating incident.
The body of El-Dib was found in the backyard of a home in northeast Calgary. Her family issued a statement to CTV News following news Bettahar’s death.
“Our family is relieved that we get to have our peace and properly mourn Nadia. We’re glad that he was caught and that we’re closing that chapter in our lives. Nadia will be remembered properly which was in a great and loving way. We’re so proud of her.”
El-Dib was a SAIT student and was working towards becoming a lawyer. Her family told CTV Calgary she briefly dated Bettaha, and that he was trying to get her back, but she did not want to rekindle the relationship.
With files from Angela Jung, Nahreman Issa and CTV Calgary
