Charges laid in fatal police-involved shooting and lengthy highway chase
Posted June 6, 2024 4:08 pm.
Last Updated June 6, 2024 7:07 pm.
Manitoba RCMP says charges have been laid in connection to a fatal police-involved shooting Wednesday following a lengthy highway chase.
Around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4, Mounties in Manitoba were informed by RCMP in Saskatchewan that a stolen vehicle being driven from Cypress River, Manitoba, was seen near Carlyle, Saskatchewan, and it appeared to be heading east out of the province.
READ MORE: Manitoba police pursuit, shooting: 1 suspect dead, 2 arrested
The vehicle was later spotted on Highway 2 in Manitoba, then again near Oak Bluff.
Around 1:20 a.m. on June 5, RCMP asked the Winnipeg Police Service for assistance as the vehicle was being followed south of Winnipeg.
Police say a shooting which is being investigated by the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) took place around 3 a.m. in a parking lot in Otterburne, near Providence University College, south of Winnipeg.
Police say the suspects continued to flee pursuing officers following the shooting, driving the stolen truck to a Shell gas station and Tim Hortons in Niverville. There, one suspect died of his injuries, another fled to Saskatchewan in a different vehicle, and the third was placed under arrest, according to WPS and RCMP.
A 34-year-old woman was taken into custody at the Drovers Run location where the driver fled and a man in his 30s was found dead. Police have confirmed she has been released without charges.
RCMP were later able to locate 29-year-old David Frank Burling, and took him and a 37-year-old woman into custody in Saskatchewan.
The woman was also released without charges.
RCMP have since charged Burling with two counts of assault against a peace officer with a weapon, possession of property obtained by a crime, failure to stop, and dangerous operation of a vehicle.
“There is much more work to do on this investigation,” said Superintendent Rob Lasson, Acting Criminal Operations Officer for the Manitoba RCMP. “This was a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional event that was complex and had many moving parts, and all of those involved worked together toward the same goals – keeping citizens safe and getting the suspect in custody.”
