‘It’s been rough’: wife of Alberta correctional officer held at gunpoint

EDMONTON — The wife of a correctional officer who was held at gunpoint earlier this week while a prisoner escaped his custody is calling for more protection for officers like her husband.

The woman, who asked her name not be published, said right now there is no plan as to when her husband will go back to work after the frightening ordeal Monday morning.

“It’s been rough because, even though it feels like the world stops, it doesn’t,” she said. The couple has two young children and the woman said it’s been tough trying to go about normal life because the kids don’t understand what happened.

“I’m at work and all I’m thinking of is, ‘Is he okay? Does he need me?'”

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On Monday, two correctional officers were transporting a prisoner from the Peace River Correctional Facility to Peace River Hospital for medical treatment when they were approached by an armed, masked man.

The officers did not resist the armed man’s demand and the prisoner, Harley John Lay, escaped custody. The officer’s wife said her husband was following protocol; he is a peace officer and does not carry a weapon.

“When people assume that because he wears a blue stripe on his pants, he must carry a gun, that’s just not the case. There’s so many different sectors of public safety and security that are different,” she said. “He did exactly what he was trained and supposed to do in the situation he was in.

“If he did any different he probably wouldn’t be around to see his kids and me every day.”

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READ MORE: Peace River prisoner who escaped custody arrested in northern BC

While the woman agrees that officers don’t need to be armed while inside the jail, she believes they should have more protection while outside the facility.

“Outside, I think there needs to be at least a police escort. Maybe give them guns, train them on guns. I’m not sure what a situation could be, but I’m not impressed with how this happened.”

The woman also says she’s not happy with some of the comments she’s seen online asking why the officers didn’t do more to stop the prisoner from being taken.

“It’s a really tough situation to be in and to see people say things where, how it comes off is, they kind of wish he did something and, ‘Oh well if he got shot. Oh well if my children no longer have a father and I no longer have a husband.’ It’s telling me that his life doesn’t matter because of the job he chose and that’s just not a forward way of thinking.”

Lay and two other people were arrested near Fort Nelson, B.C. Tuesday morning. RCMP said information about charges would be released when it becomes available.

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