COP SHOT BY FELLOW OFFICER

Bulletproof Vest Saves Life of New West Westminster Policeman During Drug Raid

A plain-clothed police officer was shot in the abdomen by a fellow
policeman during a drug raid in New Westminster yesterday afternoon.

The injured New Westminster officer was wearing a bulletproof vest,
which stopped the bullet, but left the officer with severe bruising.

"It's like someone taking a huge baseball bat and hitting you full
force. There'll likely be some internal injuries as a result of
that," said Staff Sgt. Casey Dehaas, spokesman for the New
Westminster Police Service.

The officer, a plain-clothed member of the department's Operational
Support Unit (OSU), was taken to Royal Columbia Hospital in stable
condition, with non-life threatening injuries.

The incident occurred during the execution of a drug warrant at an
apartment in the 700 Block of Fourth Avenue.

The OSU, which deals with drug-related crime in New Westminster,
entered the first floor of the apartment around 3 p.m. with the
assistance of the Municipal Integrated Emergency Response Team -- a
unit comprised of members of the New Westminster, Abbotsford, Port
Moody and Delta police.

The bullet that hit the plain-clothed officer was fired by a member
of the response team.

It was the only shot fired during the incident and is being
investigated by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, protocol
in any officer-related shooting.

"We have to determine, why did this happen? How come? Officers are
trained to prevent this kind of thing." Dehaas wouldn't say whether
the shooting officer was a member of the New Westminster Police
Service or one of the other three departments that makeup the
response unit. "He's traumatized,"

Dehaas said of the shooting officer. "You're shooting a fellow
officer. It's not intentional, but he's traumatized by the event."
Counsellors were called in to offer support to the officer as well as
other members of the team, Dehaas said.

He added that all the occupants of the apartment were taken into
custody, but would not confirm how many people were arrested.

One news report said three people were taken into custody.