Tofield RCMP rush to help fellow officers – Police grateful situation ends peacefully

By Patricia Harcourt
Editor

Tofield RCMP rushed to help their fellow officers Feb. 7 after shootings left two Killam detachment members in-jured and another man dead on a rural farm site southeast of Sedgewick.

Const. Sheldon Shah and Const. Sydney Gaudette were shot when attempting to execute a search warrant for an illegal firearm at the home of Brad Clarke. Clarke died in the house after shots were fired, and his nephew, Sawyer Clarke Robison escaped. He was on the run until last Friday morning when he turned himself in after being charged with two counts of attempted murder.

Patrolling the scene

Media swarms the Killam RCMP Detachment

Searching for Robison's truck matching this description

Clarke's residence
Crime scene photo
STARS Air Ambulance arrives at Killam Hospital to rescue the fallen officers

Sgt. Jim Warren of the Tofield RCMP detachment spent many hours in the field last week with his officers keeping the perimeters of the area southeast of Sedgewick surrounded and guarded.

“The call went out that shots were fired and members were down,” he said, last Friday on his first day back in Tofield. “Because we’re one of the closest detachments that could provide backing, we just went.”

The detachment was alerted about 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 7. Const. Devin Wilson, Const. Steve Williams and Const. Brian Jamont, as well as Sgt. Warren from Tofield, and Const. Rodney Legrow and Const. Sheldon Dyke from Viking were immediately dispatched down to Killam.

For more see the Feb. 14/12 issue of the Tofield Mercury