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Police try to save dying woman after Montreal Lake shooting

Nov 19, 2018 | 4:19 PM

It has emerged that two RCMP officers were involved in direct attempts to save the life of the 25-year-old woman who died north of Prince Albert Saturday following a shooting incident earlier in the day at Montreal Lake.

RCMP were on the lookout for a suspect black car that had left Montreal Lake and when police spotted it, they gave chase on Highway 2. The occupants stopped on a road next to the highway and ran off.

When police approached the vehicle they found an unresponsive Trina Bird inside, but offering her immediate first aid was a challenge and a balancing act according to Cpl. Rob King.

“One of the very first priorities is always preservation of life if possible,” King told paNOW. “But you always have to balance that off with the safety of the person you’re trying to save, the safety of yourself, and the surrounding public, so sometimes it’s a very delicate balancing act.”

In a zoomed-in version of a photo shared with paNOW by a passing motorist, the two officers can be seen working on the victim on the ground next to the suspect vehicle.

King explained what the officers are doing as they tried to save a life in these high-stress circumstances.

“You can’t [proceed] unless you’ve made yourself safe and the area safe,” he said. “So in this case, one of the members was trying to perform first aid to try to save the person. The other member is being vigilant to the areas around them and the possible risks with two suspects fleeing through the woods and the possibility they could have been armed,” he said.

Bird could not be revived and died on scene.

 

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow