Names of shot Mounties released, suspect at large

SPIRITWOOD, SK - (CTV) Officials have released the names of two RCMP officers shot in Saskatchewan, while police continue to search for the gunman. Const. Robin Cameron, 29, and Const. Marc Bourdages were shot Friday night near the small farming community of Mildred. The town is located about 140 kilometres west of Prince Albert.

  Const. Robin Cameron Const. Marc Bourdages

Police in Saskatchewan are looked for alleged shooter Curtis Alfred Dagenais, 41, who is considered armed and dangerous. "He took off, he fled on foot, and we're still trying to locate him," Cpl. Keith Bott of the Spiritwood RCMP told CTV News. Officials described Dagenais as a white male with brown hair and green eyes, five-foot-11, and weighing 158 pounds. He was last seen wearing blue jean cutoffs, a short-sleeved shirt and a baseball cap. Cameron is originally from Beardy's First Nation in Saskatchewan, and has an 11-year-old daughter. Bourdages hails from Saint-Eustache, Quebec, and has a nine-month-old son. They were taken to a Saskatoon hospital and underwent extensive surgery. 

According to reports, the two Mounties and a third officer were investigating an assault complaint at about 9 p.m. Friday, after the suspect got into an argument with his sister. The suspect fled in a vehicle and the officers pursued him, but were allegedly fired upon when the man stopped. The third, uninjured officer returned fire on the suspect, who then fled on foot and is still on the loose. But officials could not specify the exact details of the shooting. "I'm not exactly familiar with the sequence of the circumstances -- at what point the shots were fired, or at what point the returned shots were fired," said Bott. 

Police have set up roadblocks, established a no-fly zone and are using a plane as part of efforts to capture the suspect, who is described as armed and dangerous. Police are asking anyone with information about his whereabouts to call their local RCMP detachment. The Saskatoon major crimes unit was helping search for Dagenais. In March 2005, four RCMP officers were shot and killed in Mayerthorpe, Alta. by James Roszko while they were on his property to investigate stolen parts and a marijuana grow operation. Roszko then took his own life. *With a report by CTV's Norma Reid in Spiritwood

Mounties scale back search for suspect in officer shootings in northern Sask SPIRITWOOD, SK. (CP) - Mounties scouring the bush and pastureland of northern Saskatchewan for the prime suspect in the shooting of two officers have announced they're scaling back the ground search, with no sign of Curtis Dagenais. "Between 30 and 40 buildings, abandoned farmhouses, granaries, huts, sheds, shacks - whatever you want to describe it as - within that perimeter have been searched by emergency response teams," RCMP spokesman Sgt. Brian Jones said Thursday. Not only has Dagenais, 41, not been located, police have not found any sign he was there at all. "Our officers have been looking literally for broken twigs, depressions in the grass, footprints, discarded items of clothing, anything that would stick out as unusual in that area. I can tell you that nothing of that nature has been found." 

Thursday was the sixth full day of the search for Dagenais in the area near Spiritwood, 140 kilometres west of Prince Albert. The manhunt began after police in two cruisers chased Dagenais in his truck east of Spiritwood on Friday night. The chase ended around 9 p.m. south of the community of Mildred, where Curtis's father Arthur lives, with a gun battle. Curtis Dagenais, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, fled into the bush. Police believe he has a long-barrelled weapon but won't say if it's a shotgun or a rifle. Two RCMP constables - Robin Cameron, 29, and Marc Bourdages, 26 - were taken to hospital in serious condition. A third officer in the second cruiser returned fire but was not injured. Mounties, citing family privacy concerns, have not released details on the conditions of Cameron and Bourdages. Jones would not comment on media reports that the two were shot in the head and that Cameron is on life support. Their cruiser showed bullet holes low on the front windshield. Police with tactical teams and dog trackers, as well as with a helicopter, had slowly been checking a 208-square-kilometre area south of Mildred. They will continue stopping all vehicles and checking trunks and cargo holds along the search area's perimeter.

Curtis Alfred Dagenais

A Canada-wide arrest warrant has been issued for Dagenais for attempted murder for the shots fired at the third officer. Police say they are following up on more than 140 tips from the public. His father, Arthur Dagenais, is also behind bars in nearby North Battleford in connection with the case. The 69-year-old was arrested Saturday for trespassing in the restricted search zone after being ordered by police to stay away. He is charged with obstruction of justice. He is seeking bail in a court hearing Friday. Court has heard the elder Dagenais was a known police hater. The Crown prosecutor is challenging his bid for bail on the grounds Dagenais, if freed, would help his son evade capture. 

Court also heard that after Curtis Dagenais fled, police found $27,000 in cash and two firearms in a combine on the Dagenais farm property. It was told Dagenais phoned his father on his cellphone during the chase, tearfully saying he didn't think he could outrun the police. The chase started in Spiritwood over an alleged domestic dispute. Arthur and his wife Elsie have been divorced for three years. Family members say Curtis Dagenais came to see his mother in town that night because he had just learned she was to get half the family farm in the property settlement. His uncle, Herb Jaster, has said Curtis had hoped to inherit the entire farm and had gone to the mother's house in a rage to confront her and his sister. The argument spilled out in front of Elsie's home and police were called. Curtis Dagenais roared off in his truck and the fateful chase began.

*Dean Bennett, Canadian Press