Cops tried to stop speeding car - chief

Serious incident Response Team declines to take over investigation after three fatalities

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story indicated the crash occurred after a police pursuit. The police force says officers attempted to stop the car, but it was gone by the time the cruiser, with its lights activated, was able to turn around. We regret the error.

Furthermore, the police force provided incorrect information with the regard to the ages of two of the victims. That has been corrected.

A single motor-vehicle accident that claimed the lives of three young people early Sunday came immediately after Fredericton police cruisers tried to pull it over, says the police chief.

The Fredericton Police Force reported Sunday that three people died as a result of a crash on Douglas Avenue at about 1 a.m. that day.

Police reported the car is believed to have struck a street curb, became airborne and then struck a tree at a high rate of speed, and it landed on another occupied vehicle.

Three people in the first car - the driver and two passengers - died at the scene.

Fredericton police Chief Martin Gaudet (Photo: Don MacPherson/The Fredericton Independent)

However, in an update to the media on Monday afternoon, police Chief Martin Gaudet confirmed there was police involvement prior to the crash.

He said that just before the crash, just before 1 a.m. Sunday, the vehicle in question had approached a city police cruiser on patrol at the time at a high rate of speed.

The officers tried to pull the vehicle over for a traffic stop, the chief said Monday.

“Our officer activated the emergency lights, but the vehicle failed to stop,” he said. 

“The officer lost sight of the vehicle in question and disengaged the emergency equipment.”

Soon thereafter, the chief said, police were dispatched to the scene of the fatal accident.

Officers acted within standard operating procedure, he said, and it would have been negligent of the officers not to attempt to stop the car at first.

The city police force reported in a followup release Monday that an outside police agency was contacted initially given the circumstances leading up to the deadly crash.

“New Brunswick/Nova Scotia Serious incident Response Team (SiRT) were initially engaged to review the file, as per protocol when incidents occur where there are serious injuries or fatalities, where police were involved,” it said.

“Based on the evidence, SiRT has advised they will not be taking carriage of this file. “

Fredericton Police Force officers are continuing the criminal investigation into the incident.

“First and foremost, our most heartfelt condolences go out to the families and friends of the deceased,” Gaudet said.

“This is a terrible tragedy for all involved; victims, witnesses, families, friends and first responders - and the community as a whole.”

He confirmed Monday the three dead were a 22-year-old man, a 17-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl.

A Fredericton Police Force cruiser. (Photo: Facebook)

“Out of respect for the families, we will not be releasing the names of those involved at this time,” the chief said.

Gaudet noted there were two other passengers in the vehicle that crashed: a 15-year-old boy who was critically injured and was airlifted to the IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax, and a 14-year-old girl who was treated for injuries locally and released from hospital.

The 15-year-old’s condition was unknown to police Monday afternoon.

There were four men inside the second vehicle, which was parked when the first landed on it, he said, but none sustained serious injury.

The police chief said its victim-witness services team is working with the victims’ families, and the officers who were involved will get critical incident support management as well.

The second, parked, vehicle was occupied by four adult males, who had just entered their vehicle and were about to depart a residence. None of them sustained any serious physical injuries.

The Fredericton Independent can be reached at ftonindependent@gmail.com.