Alleged Fredericton shooter hit in the abdomen, court documents reveal

Editor's note: This story has been restored to the form that it appeared on Aug. 13 until about 7:45 p.m. AT. A court order had been issued that required that details legally obtained from court documents had to be removed. CBC News complied with the court order. However, a judge rescinded the order on Aug. 17, allowing those details to be published again. 

A man accused of shooting and killing two civilians and two Fredericton police officers was shot in the abdomen by police as he fired out of an apartment window with a long gun, court documents reveal.

New details about what happened on Brookside Drive are detailed in a charge sheet filed by police at the Fredericton provincial courthouse.

Matthew Vincent Raymond, 48, faces four charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of Donnie Robichaud, Bobbie-Lee Wright and two Fredericton police officers, Const. Robb Costello and Const. Sara Burns.

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Costello and Burns were the first officers to respond to the call that morning, which came in around 7:10 a.m. AT

The officers were followed closely by Sgt. Jason Forward. 

As Sgt. Forward stopped to ask a passerby some questions, Costello and Burns went into the driveway at 237 Brookside Dr., in the back of Building C. The documents show Raymond lived in Apartment 11 of 237 Brookside Dr.'s Building C.

Forward heard gunshots and followed the noises to the back of Building C.

"Once there, he noticed Csts. (constables) Costello and Burns laying on the ground not moving," the documents say.

"He also noticed another male on the ground not moving, beside Const. Costello."

A male witness inside the apartment building told Forward the shooting was coming from a top floor apartment in Building C.

The suspect, the documents say, continued to shoot.

Officer fired when suspect pointed long gun at him

A second officer, identified only as Const. Fox, joined Forward, and they entered the apartment building together, setting up "containment" in the stairwell to the top floor. 

"They confirmed that the shooter was inside Apartment 11-C," the charge sheet says.

"Sgt. Forward advised responding officers that if the shooter presents himself to the window, they should engage him."

A third police officer, identified only as Const. Arbeau, fired at the alleged shooter "after Arbeau observed the individual point a long gun weapon at him."

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Arbeau believed he hit the suspect in the torso.

"A little while later, members of the [Fredericton Police Force Emergency Response Team] entered the apartment and took the lone occupant and shooter into custody," the charge sheet says.

The suspect, it says, was shot in the abdomen. Soon after, police "cleared" all buildings.

Victims found around Wright's car

Police determined at the scene that Costello and Burns died as a result of gunshot wounds.

Wright was found dead on the passenger side of her vehicle with a blown-out windshield, according to the documents. She was pronounced dead at hospital "as a result of what appears to be gunshot wounds."

All the other victims "were down around the vehicle that Bobbie-Lee Wright was in," the documents say.

The alleged shooter was arrested at 9:35 a.m., about two hours after police first responded to the call, police say in the documents.

He was told of his right to a lawyer by Const. Debbie Stafford.

"The shooter identified himself to Const. Stafford as Matthew Raymond," the documents say. 

Police later confirmed the suspect's name with the building superintendent.

As of Saturday, when the charge sheet was filed, Raymond was in the intensive care unit of the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital after having surgery for gunshot wounds to the abdomen.

No one else was present in the suspect's apartment, the documents say. Police found items "believed to be firearm(s) and ammunition" inside that residence. 

'Their lives for me'

In the meantime, Joyce Sullivan, who lives in Building C where the alleged shooter lived, was having trouble sleeping and woke up to what she thought were firecrackers, according to a dramatic account she gave to CBC News on Monday. 

Then she could hear knocking outside her apartment door. So she rushed to the door of her apartment. She looked through the peephole and saw two police officers on their knees with their guns pointed toward apartment 11.

"I ran like mad back to get dressed and while I was in there my door was busted open by another policeman," the north side resident said.

She recalls the two police officers getting up off their knees, never turning their heads away from door 11. Sullivan was crouched behind them as the officers walked backward. She was escorted outside the building by another police officer and taken to safety.

"They went trot, trot, trot backwards with their shoulders right together to protect me," the senior said.

"That's how they protected me going out … their lives for me."

As Sullivan spoke Monday, police officers could be seen through a third-storey apartment's windows going examining belongings.  

Resident Joyce Sullivan describes the meticulous search of the crime scene:

Joyce Sullivan, who lives in Building C, gives dramatic account.

6 years ago

Duration 0:51

Joyce Sullivan, who lives in Building C where the alleged shooter lived, was having trouble sleeping and woke up to what she thought were firecrackers, according to a dramatic account she gave to CBC News