Saskatchewan RCMP are reporting a member in the Turtleford detachment has suffered a serious, but non-life threatening wound in a shooting outside the community of Mervin.

The officer was responding to a potential impaired driving call that was previously reported by the Loon Lake RCMP. The suspect was also taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Fisher said his thoughts go out to the officer who was wounded.

“Your heart sinks; that would be the first reaction I would say, you’re worried for them, you’re worried for their families,” Fisher said. “After that it sort of kicks in to where you’re making sure that the scene is secured, lining up resources for a proper investigation, and making sure, probably front of mind, that we make efforts to notify their family.”

Fisher said this is the first RCMP shooting in his current role.

“These are incidents that stick in your mind whenever they happen, where ever they happen, whether they are in your province or in another jurisdiction for that matter with another police service that we work closely with,” Fisher said. “These incidents have a significant impact, I would say, on the law enforcement family as a whole.”

Fisher said this is a scenario RCMP members fear with every call.

“The reality is is that each of us when we strap on the uniform and go to work in the morning face these types of risks now,” Fisher said. “Not all of us encounter them in the course of a career, but the reality is that things can change in a matter of seconds in any call that we respond to.”

The officer has since been released from hospital. Regina Police are taking over the investigation.

{Files from MacKenzie Read}