A Mountie died early Monday morning in a collision that occurred in Strathcona County, just east of Edmonton, according to the RCMP.
Police said the crash occurred at about 2 a.m. on Township Road 540, near the northeast edge of Edmonton.
Police were seen investigating where the road hits a dead end at the North Saskatchewan River, which serves as the border between the city and the county.
Despite efforts of emergency responders and civilians present, RCMP said Const. Harvinder (Harvey) Singh Dhami succumbed to his injuries.
READ MORE: Edmonton bids farewell to 2 slain police officers at regimental funeral
At a news conference in Sherwood Park on Monday afternoon, Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said Dhami was en route to a noise complaint call when the vehicle he was driving hit a concrete barrier.
“This is never the kind of news we want to share,” Zablocki said.
Dale Kendall, the Strathcona RCMP detachment commander, said Dhami is survived by his wife.
Zablocki said the officer had been working in Strathcona County since graduating from the RCMP Academy’s Depot Division in Regina in 2019.
“He wasn’t just a police officer,” Kendall said. “He was a husband. He was a son. He was a brother. He was a friend. He was a colleague. And he was so much more.
“Our entire detachment … (was) fortunate to work with Harvey firsthand.”
She described Dhami as a “hardworking go-getter that could always be counted on.”
A news release went on to describe him as a team member who was compassionate, caring and very community oriented.
A Global News crew saw a long line of police vehicles escorting an ambulance to the medical examiner’s office in Edmonton shortly before 5:30 a.m.
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Multiple RCMP vehicles and Edmonton Police Service vehicles were seen outside the medical examiner’s office after, as well as vehicles belonging to Alberta Health Services.
It’s the second time in a month they’ve gathered to pay tribute outside the south Edmonton building. Last month, officers lined the same road when two Edmonton police officers shot and killed while responding to a family dispute were brought to the medical examiner.
On Monday afternoon, a makeshift flower memorial emerged at the cenotaph honouring Cpl. Jim Galloway outside the Strathcona RCMP detachment.
Galloway died in the line of duty on Feb. 28, 2004, when he was shot while working with the Edmonton RCMP emergency response team during an armed stand-off in Spruce Grove.
Zablocki said Mounties are grateful for the support they are receiving from the community as they mourn the loss of a colleague who “took great pride in wearing the uniform.”
“Losing a member of our police service and a member of the community is very difficult,” Zablocki said.
Kendall said that while Dhami was always professional, she wanted people to know he also had a great sense of humour. She stressed that Dhami “was always a team player.”
“(He) had one of the most positive attitudes. No matter what was thrown his way, he was always ready to do his part,” she said, adding that he never shied away from a call “no matter what the task or risk might be.”
The RCMP did not take questions during Monday’s news conference, saying that the reason for that decision was based on that fact that the investigation into what happened remains in its preliminary stages.
A heavily damaged RCMP SUV was loaded onto a flatbed truck, covered in tarps, and towed away later in the morning.
Premier Danielle Smith tweeted about the collision on Monday afternoon and called the news “heartbreaking.”
“I want to extend Alberta’s deepest sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of Const. Dhami,” she tweeted, adding that she had ordered flags to be lowered at both the Alberta legislature and the McDougall Centre.
Opposition Leader Rachel Notley also tweeted about the crash, saying she was “shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Const. Harvinder Singh Dhami.”
“My thoughts are with his family, loved ones, the Strathcona County RCMP and everyone touched by this terrible tragedy,” she tweeted.