Procession for RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien held in Fraser Valley
Posted September 26, 2023 12:23 pm.
Last Updated September 26, 2023 4:21 pm.
A procession for Ridge Meadows RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien was held in the Fraser Valley Tuesday, as first responders escorted the fallen officer from the Abbotsford Regional Hospital to an Aldergrove funeral home.
The motorcade left the hospital around 1 p.m., travelling west along Highway 1, passing by overpasses crowded by police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and locals, all hoping to pay their respects to the 51-year-old who was killed in the line of duty in Coquitlam last week.
Over 100 vehicles made up the procession, with blue and red lights flashing throughout in tribute to O’Brien.
“I feel the utmost sadness and a lot of grief. How this could happen in today’s world, I just don’t know. I don’t understand it,” said Mary MacDonald, who was among a crowd of onlookers.
“(I wanted to) pay my respects. Although I didn’t know the gentleman, my heart grieves for the loss to his family, his friends, to the community, and to the entire police force.”
O’Brien was shot on Friday while he and other officers were searching a home in Coquitlam as part of an ongoing investigation. He and two other Ridge Meadows officers were hurt after an “altercation” took place.
O’Brien succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien was killed in the line of duty on Sept. 21, 2023. (Courtesy: Ridge Meadows RCMP)
The constable was born in Ottawa. He had celebrated seven years with the RCMP prior to his death — all of those years of service spent with the Ridge Meadows detachment.
On Monday, the House of Commons held a minute of silence for O’Brien.
Nicholas Bellemare, 25, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder with a firearm.
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