A Mountie pursuing suspects in the fatal shooting of a Rocky View County worker narrowly avoided a head-on collision, court heard Thursday. Const. Shane Manca testified that he was one of several RCMP officers who responded to the area northeast of Strathmore shortly after Colin Hough was shot and his work truck was taken.
Dash cam captures close encounter
Manca told Crown prosecutor Ryan Ziegler that his in-vehicle dash camera recorded the near-miss as he sped down Township Road 252 east of Calgary. The video, played for the Calgary Court of King's Bench jury, shows his police truck being sideswiped. 'As I was approaching a hill I could see a white pickup truck,' Manca said. He positioned his vehicle in the centre of the roadway, and at the last second, the suspects veered off to the side, making contact with his driver's side mirror. 'That bang was my mirror making contact with his mirror,' the officer explained.
Charges laid in fatal shooting
Elijah Blake Strawberry and Arthur Wayne Penner are charged with second-degree murder in Hough's death on Aug. 6, 2024. They also face charges of attempted murder for shooting a second victim, Matthew Andres, who was working at an intersection and was shot in the arm, as well as two counts each of armed robbery.
Manca was unable to see the occupants of the other vehicle or identify it as a Rocky View County truck at the time. However, when the video was paused moments before the collision, the county's name was visible on the driver's side door. At that point, Manca's dash cam showed him driving at 78 km/h.
Stolen truck found abandoned
After the near-collision, Manca continued westbound and met up with Const. Jihun Kim. About 10 minutes later, they learned the truck had been found abandoned in a farmer's field. Kim testified that he had earlier tried to follow the truck but lost it as it reached speeds up to 170 km/h.
Kim also told the court that on Aug. 21, he discovered a mud-caked .45 caliber revolver in an irrigation shed. Both defence counsel Sarah Kondor and Rebecca Snukal questioned the officer about wearing the same rubber gloves while touching other items in the shed before seizing the gun.
Manca's testimony is scheduled to continue on Friday.
