On the second day of testimony in the first-degree murder trial for a man accused of fatally shooting RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien, an investigating officer walked the court through security videos from the Coquitlam condo tower where it happened. Sgt. Chase Smith with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team put together a 20-minute video compilation showing the moments before and after 51-year-old O’Brien was shot while executing a drug warrant with four RCMP colleagues. It begins with those officers entering the building on Sept. 22, 2023, and riding the elevator to the 22nd floor. The video does not show the moment when police breached the door and shots were fired. O’Brien, who was with the Ridge Meadows detachment, was fatally shot, and a second officer also suffered injuries in the exchange of gunfire. A third RCMP officer shot and wounded suspect Nicholas Bellemare in the forearm. The court has heard police put out a call for assistance as soon as the gunfire erupted. A few minutes later, the security video shows responding officers entering the building and riding the elevator to the 22nd floor with guns drawn. As the elevator doors open, the four officers point their weapons towards the hallway. O’Brien can then be seen lying motionless on the floor of the hallway. Some of the officers crouch down and immediately begin tending to him. Within moments, they pull O’Brien into the elevator to ride down to the lobby where they pass him to paramedics. He would later be pronounced dead in the ambulance. As the video played, members of O’Brien’s family in the gallery and some of their supporters softly wept and held each other for comfort. In the prisoner’s dock, Bellemare stared straight ahead. As the video continues, other officers can be seen entering the 22nd floor elevator with Bellemare in handcuffs. He is barefoot and dressed only in his underwear. A small amount of blood can be seen on his left forearm where he was shot by police. The video shows police taking Bellemare down to the parkade and then walk him out through the parking gate towards the street. After Chase finished his testimony, the Crown called another RCMP officer to the stand. Cpl. Paul Carey testified he was a police dog handler seconded to the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team on the day of O’Brien’s death. He said he was called out to the scene with a police service dog named Jedi. Along with other ERT members, Carey and Jedi helped clear the condo unit to make sure there were no other people inside. Carey said upon entering the suite the first thing he noticed was a large pool of blood on the floor and blood smeared on the walls. “It was just a really ugly scene,” he said, describing what he saw. Nobody else was found in the unit. After conducting a full search, police found more than 700 grams of cocaine, along with smaller amounts of crack, fentanyl and MDMA. Bellemare faces one count of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and weapons charges. He is not facing any charges in connection with the drugs found in the condo.
