An RCMP officer has died in the line of duty after the police car he was driving collided with a moose in west-central Saskatchewan.
The crash happened on Highway 14, about seven kilometres west of Wilkie, Sask., shortly before 2 a.m. Friday.
The officer was pronounced dead at the scene. RCMP have identified the victim as Const. Derek Pineo. Pineo had been with the RCMP for nearly five years, and leaves behind a wife and three children.
RCMP officials say they are not sure if the38-year-old was responding to a call at the time of the crash, or if his emergency lights had been turned on, but there were several complaints called in not long before his cruiser collided with the moose.
Pineo transferred to the Wilkie detachment just two weeks ago. He was previously stationed in Nipawin.
Pineo has family in Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. Police say his relatives have been informed of his death.
