Friends, community members contribute to memorial for fallen Maple Ridge RCMP officer

The BC Prosecution Service has approved charges against a Coquitlam man following the death of officer Rick O'Brien. Friend Steve Ball tells reporter Kate Walker that Obrien was a kind and caring man who loved teaching kids.

By Kate Walker and Pippa Norman

Posted September 23, 2023 8:08 pm.

Last Updated September 23, 2023 9:31 pm.

Tears flowed for 51-year-old Rick O’Brien at a growing memorial at the Ridge Meadows RCMP detachment on Saturday.

Constable O’Brien was executing a search warrant Friday morning in Coquitlam when he was shot and killed. Two other officers were shot and injured.

On Saturday, RCMP confirmed the BC Prosecution Service has approved charges against 25-year-old Nicholas Bellemare of Coquitlam.

Steve Ball, friend of O’Brien’s, says he was supposed to have lunch with him this week. He met O’Brien while working in the school system with him and describes him as a kind, caring and loving man.

“He took his work seriously, and I think he was really in it for the public, and especially for the children,” Ball said. “He was excited about learning with the kids and teaching them things and showing them all the stuff that he could. He was a wonderful guy.”

Claudett Levy was also at the memorial Saturday to pay her respects to O’Brien.

“I feel that the greatest, the last gift, is remembrance,” Levy said. “It’s important for the community to come together, and support the men and women… who go to work everyday not knowing if they’re coming home.”

Maple Ridge Mayor Dan Ruimy called the loss of O’Brien “heartbreaking.”

“Everybody liked him, not just in our community, in all the communities that he touched through the work that he did in the RCMP,” Ruimy said.

Andrew Coldwells was also among the steady flow of people coming to show their support in Maple Ridge on Saturday afternoon.

“When tragedies like this happen, you have to come out and pay your respects and show what they mean to you,” Coldwells said. “Show what they mean to the community and the service that they provide.”

A memorial has been set up for a Maple Ridge RCMP officer who was fatally shot while executing a search warrant on Sept. 22, 2023. (CityNews Image)

The National Police Federation, which represents RCMP across the Canada, says they’ve launched a GoFundMe campaign for the family of O’Brien. In just three hours, they reached their initial goal of $10, 000.

As of Saturday evening, that campaign reached more than $67,000 and now has a revised goal of $75,000. O’Brien was also honoured during the West Coast Run 2 Remember in Victoria on Saturday, in the last 37 kilometres of a 131-kilometre journey to honour fallen officers across the province. An extra kilometre was added for O’Brien.

Daryl Young, detective with the Abbotsford Police Department, participated in the run over the weekend.

“It reminded us, although we didn’t need it, why we’re running. It certainly galvanized us.”

Sunday marks the national memorial for police officers killed in the line of duty, where O’Brien will now also be remembered, with the rest of the fallen officers.