Accused murderer believed to be the suspect killed in RCMP shootout
Posted Mar 30, 2018 11:04 am.
Last Updated Mar 31, 2018 9:22 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The sister of a Calgary murder victim says it’s believed the man killed in a shootout with RCMP west of Edmonton on Thursday was the suspect police were hunting in connection her sister’s killing.
Adam Bettahar had been wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for first-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Nadia El-Dib, whose body was found in the city’s northeast last weekend.
Racha El-Dib says her family received a call from police saying they believed Bettahar was dead.
Police have not released the name of the suspect who died in the incident.
However, Alberta’s police watchdog ASIRT (Alberta Serious Incident Response Team) now confirms the vehicle RCMP were chasing before the shootout is connected to an active homicide investigation.
An RCMP officer, wounded in the exchange of gunfire between the driver of that vehicle and police, is recovering in an Edmonton hospital.
Sgt. Brian Topham suffered non-life threatening injuries when he was shot after stopping the vehicle with a spike belt.
Corporal Laurel Scott said the confrontation began when a member of the Evansburg detachment spotted the suspect.
“Several RCMP members were there, members from Evansburg, Stony Plain, Spruce Grove, Edson, and Drayton Valley, they had all been participating in the pursuit,” she said.
Topham is the commander of the Evansburg detachment.
ASIRT is looking into what happened, as it does anytime someone is hurt or killed in an incident involving police in Alberta.
