Four Nanaimo RCMP members were cited for dedication and bravery at B.C.’s 35th annual Police Honours Night.
The event, hosted in Victoria last week, recognized 56 police officers from RCMP and municipal departments who were presented medals by Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon and Mike Morris, minister of public safety and solicitor general.
Sgt. Paul Minkley, who is now a member of the Vancouver Island Emergency Response Team, and Nanaimo RCMP Const. David Buchanan were presented with a citation and medal of valour “for placing themselves at substantial risk to enter a building to search for and apprehend an active shooter,” according to a government press release.
Minkley and Buchanan were among the first officers to arrive at the scene of the Western Forest Products mill shooting on April 30, 2014, when Michael Lunn and Fred McEachern were killed and Tony Sudar and Earl Kelly wounded by Kevin Douglas Addison, who they took into custody. Addison was convicted of first-degree murder in September. His will be sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court Dec. 2.
Const. Michael Gibson was presented with an Award of Meritorious Service for rendering first aid to the victims of the same shooting.
A fourth Nanaimo RCMP member, whose identity has been withheld, was also presented with a meritorious service award for developing a sex trade cohort to improve services and reduce risk for sex trade workers.