Gunshots narrowly miss peace officers on patrol on highway in western New Brunswick

NACKAWIC, N.B. — The RCMP in western New Brunswick are searching for three suspects after someone shot at and narrowly missed two Justice and Public Safety peace officers who were on patrol in a marked SUV on Friday morning.

One of the officers received minor injuries during a chase on the Trans-Canada Highway that started when the officers spotted a small, grey or silver four-door car speeding the wrong way on the westbound lanes near Ritchie, N.B., at 9:20 a.m.

As the peace officers started to follow the vehicle, it entered an emergency turnaround area and headed in the right direction in the eastbound lanes.

As the Public Safety SUV attempted to pull beside the car, a passenger in the back seat shot at the officers’ vehicle, striking the passenger side window and the driver’s headrest.

The suspects’ car then turned around and was last seen driving the wrong way in the eastbound lanes.

The driver is described as a man in his early 20s, who was wearing a black ball cap and dark glasses — but there was no description of the other two people in the car.

“This is a very serious incident,” RCMP Cpl. Hans Ouellette said in an interview. “When it occurred on Nov. 5, we did post on social media that we were in the area and we were asking residents to stay away.”

The RCMP say they are interested in speaking to anyone who was driving on the Trans-Canada on Nov. 5, between 8:45 and 9:45 a.m., between kilometres 212 and 227. The Mounties are also interested in speaking to anyone who may have dashcam or other footage of the area during that time.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2021.

The Canadian Press