‘A traumatic event:’ Estevan police chief discusses homicide, officer’s shooting

After two people died and one of his officers was badly hurt Wednesday, Estevan Police Service Chief Rich Lowen spoke Friday about the impact of the incidents on his officers.

While Lowen couldn’t share details about the shootings of an officer and a suspect that happened inside the police station — they’re being investigated by Saskatchewan’s Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) — he did say his staff has been granted access to important supports in the wake of the incident.

“Our members themselves are receiving treatment for their mental health. We have services — behaviour health services — that our members will be receiving to make sure that they’re coping well,” Lowen explained.

“It is a challenge, because this is outside of the norm for us, and it creates a lot of trauma within the service as well as the community.”

According to SIRT, the suspect got control of a police officer’s gun in the police station before being shot by another officer.

The suspect and the injured officer were eventually airlifted to a Regina hospital. The suspect subsequently died; the latest report from Estevan police indicated the injured officer was in stable condition.

Lowen said the police force has been receiving support from the community and from outside agencies, including the RCMP and the Weyburn and Regina police services.

“People have been reaching out from across the province,” he said.

The shootings inside the police station followed the death of 46-year-old Karie Ann Guillas. Police said officers determined she was murdered, and the suspect was her 19-year-old son, Justice.

Lowen described how Wednesday’s incident has impacted the city.

“It is a traumatic event to the entire community. There are people here that knew somebody involved in these scenarios. Everybody is connected. In a small town, everybody knows everybody,” he said.

The police chief offered his condolences to the loved ones of everyone who was impacted by the alleged murder and the subsequent shootings inside the police station.

Lowen said the events that transpired that day are extremely rare in a community like Estevan. He said the most-recent murder in the community was in 2021; the last recorded murder before that was seven years earlier.

“A homicide in a small community is a traumatic event that does not happen very often. It is a very serious incident and affects a lot of people in the community and the service as well,” he said.

Lowen said the initial incident occurred just before 6:40 a.m., when police were called to a residence in Estevan.

“The reason for the call was that an adult female was injured and bleeding,” Lowen explained.

Karie Ann Guillas was suffering from serious upper-body injuries that Lowen said were later confirmed by an autopsy to be stab wounds. The chief added that a man was taken into custody; he later was identified by a family member as Justice Guillas.

Karie Ann was taken to hospital, where she died at around 9:28 a.m., according to Lowen.

After the incident, Justice was transported from the scene to the police station.

“While at the station, there was an altercation that took place between a member of the Estevan Police Service and the suspect in this matter. And that is currently under investigation by SIRT,” Lowen said.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Roman Hayter