'He was truly exceptional': Slain B.C. RCMP officer identified

B.C. RCMP has identified the officer killed while executing a search warrant in Coquitlam Friday morning as Const. Rick O'Brien.

B.C. RCMP has identified the officer killed while executing a search warrant in Coquitlam Friday morning as Const. Rick O'Brien.

O'Brien and colleagues from the Ridge Meadows RCMP detachment were executing the warrant at a home on Glen Drive when they "became engaged in an altercation with a man which resulted in multiple officers being injured and the man being shot," Mounties said in an official statement earlier in the day.

Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, the commanding officer of the B.C. RCMP, shared O'Brien's name at a news conference Friday afternoon.

"This is an extremely tragic and difficult day," McDonald said. "To say that today has been a struggle is an understatement. Our RCMP family is, once again, gutted."

McDonald's voice broke slightly as he pointed out that Friday's incident came just days before the B.C. law enforcement memorial in Victoria, and not quite one year after the killing of Const. Shaelyn Yang in Burnaby.

"We're still healing from that tragic loss," McDonald said. "And yet, here we are again. We must do everything necessary to support our members, their families and our community."

The commissioner said he visited with O'Brien's family before speaking to reporters Friday. He said he shared his condolences and those of the RCMP.