Man charged with attempted murder in Kelowna RCMP officer stabbing

A man has been charged with attempted murder after a Kelowna RCMP officer was stabbed this weekend.

The police officer was attending to a call about campers on a private property in the 100 block of Ellis Street shortly after 11:50 p.m, March 27, said Kelowna RCMP Insp. Adam MacIntosh, during a press conference, March 28

The officer arrived at the rear of the building and he found a man in relation to the call and the pair began to talk.

“It is alleged the male produced a knife and attacked the officer, resulting in the officer receiving a serious stab wound above his eye,” MacIntosh said.

The officer fought to gain control of the man and while waiting for backup he fired his gun. The shot did not hit the man and two citizens who were residents of the building came to the officer’s aid, he said.

The police officer was treated at Kelowna General Hospital and has since been discharged and is recovering at home. The man was also transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening but self-inflicted injuries and was committed under the Mental Health act. He remains in hospital under the guard of B.C. Corrections, MacIntosh said.

Richard McRrea, 39, has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault of a police officer, attempting to disarm a police officer, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and resisting arrest.

His next court appearance is scheduled for April 11. The investigation is ongoing, MacIntosh said.

READ MORE: Kelowna police officer stabbed while attending to disturbance

MacIntosh said the level of police responding to mental health-related incidents is increasing and said police could use more public health resources like its partnership with Interior Health that has a nurse and RCMP officer attending to calls.

“We are dealing with a greater number of individuals, often with complex issues that relate to mental health, trauma, illicit drug use and they are generally a product of support needed through health. They become a police issue in part due to lack of services within the community and I would suggest in the province,” MacIntosh said.

“Right now we are spending a lot of our time conducting police work that is probably health work.”

In Kelowna, officers are often attending calls by themselves but incidents are assessed prior based on risk, he said.

“The information on this particular call gave no rise initially to the need for a multiple-member response,” MacIntosh said.

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