B.C. OFFICER HURT BY FRIENDLY FIRE

Policeman Stable After Raid On Crack House

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. (CP) -- A police officer was shot in the
abdomen by one of his own yesterday during a raid on a well-known
crack house in New Westminster.

The officer was wearing a bulletproof vest and was in stable
condition in hospital a few hours after the shooting, said Staff
Sergeant Casey Dehaas, a spokesman for the New Westminster Police.

"It's like somebody having a huge baseball bat and hitting you full
force," he said.

"He suffered some serious bruising. The round did not penetrate his
body. The vest stopped the round from going in."

The Integrated Emergency Response Team, a police unit made up of
several Vancouver-area police forces, was executing a search warrant
at the apartment.

Police won't say what happened, but revealed late yesterday that the
single shot fired came from a police weapon.

They would not say which police department the officer who fired is from.

"He's traumatized," Staff Sgt. Dehaas said of the officer who
discharged his weapon.

"You're shooting a fellow police officer. We've got support for him."

Staff Sgt. Dehaas said all the occupants of the apartment were taken
into custody, but would not confirm how many people were arrested.
One news report said there were three people arrested.

The injured officer was wearing plain clothes when he and other
members of the team entered a first-floor apartment in the Vancouver
suburb to execute the drug warrant around 3 p.m.

The Lower Mainland of British Columbia is policed by numerous police
forces, which include the Vancouver and New Westminster municipal
forces, as well as the RCMP.

An integrated investigation team has been called in to probe
yesterday's shooting.

The Vancouver-area incident comes on the heels of the shooting of
three police officers in Winnipeg last week during a late-night drug raid.

A suspect was shot as well.

Two of the Winnipeg officers remain in hospital this week.

Constable Donald Murray, a 12-year veteran, was in serious but stable
condition after being shot in the stomach.

Constable Curtis Penner was in guarded but stable condition after
being shot in the hand and forearm. He is a 17-year member of the force.

Both Winnipeg officers needed surgery to deal with their wounds.

A third officer, Constable Jeremy Cull, who has been with the
Winnipeg police for four years, was shot in the lower leg.

He has since been released from hospital.