The man charged with assaulting a police officer with a weapon after a shooting near Clavet has been sentenced to five years in jail.
Thirty-five-year-old Derek Marlon Cote was shot by RCMP after a traffic stop on Highway 16 led to shots fired by both parties. Cote pled guilty to assaulting an officer with a weapon, pointing a firearm, and break and enter.
Through tears, Cote apologized to the courts, the officers he pointed his gun at, and the people whose homes he broke in to. Cote said he couldn’t recall anything that happened that day because he was mixing medication and alcohol. According to Cote, he woke up in the hospital and was told he’d been shot by police.
Highway 16 was closed to traffic for several hours on April 26 following the shooting. The day’s events began with several break and enters reported in a nearby community. RCMP later stopped a suspect vehicle, which led to an RCMP officer shooting Cote.
The court heard that during the stop, all the passengers in the truck got out and complied with police – except for Cote, who refused to cooperate. Cote allegedly reached into the truck, pulled out a long-barrel firearm, and started walking towards police with his gun raised. The officers fired, but Cote raised the gun again. RCMP fired again, and Cote went down.
The crown prosecutor said RCMP fired three shots: one hit Cote in the side of the neck, one missed, and the other shattered his ankle. “I think he’s very lucky to be alive. He put himself in a very difficult situation and he’s very lucky it didn’t end worse for him,” said crown prosecutor Lori Chambers.
It isn’t clear where the RCMP officers were in relation to Cote when they fired. Police are taught to shoot centre mass until the threat is stopped, but in a high stress situation like the incident in Clavet, plus a moving target, RCMP said hitting the target twice is good shooting.
Cote, from the Watrous area, was charged with break and enter, theft, and weapons charges. He plead guilty to everything, and was sentenced to five years in prison.
“[They are] very serious charges, very serious offenses, but given the fact that he’s entered an early guilty plea I think the five-year global sentence is reasonable,” Chambers said.
Before he was escorted out of court, the judge told Cote he was getting a second chance at life.
Two other people were also charged in the incident, and the Regina Police Service is investigating the shooting by RCMP.
