Nine weeks ago Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had an intense standoff with a murder suspect on the lamb. Mohammadali Darabi (32) was a suspect in a murder back in Calgary. Darabi’s roommate was found dead on the 2300 block of Oakmore Drive S.W., the Calgary Police deemed the death suspicious and led them to classify the situation as a homicide.
The local RCMP detachment was informed that Darabi could be in the vicinity of Revelstoke during the time in question. The Independent Investigation Office (IIO) have concluded their investigation, therefore, details of the events that took place on that day can be released.
RCMP spent majority of the morning of October 17th seeking out the Corolla, only to find him later that afternoon near the A&W parking lot; he was then followed until he pulled his vehicle over on Victoria Road. Darabi was instructed to remove himself from the vehicle at which time he ignored the orders and remained in the vehicle. With the cold weather and the steam from his breathing, fog clouded the view into the vehicle, and the RCMP could not see his actions.
Staff Sergeant Kurt Grabinsky informed the Revelstoke Current on the details of what actually happened during that standoff.
“We don’t know when, somewhere in the few hours we interacted with him, he committed suicide. He had a pistol in his vehicle and he did harm himself.”
The Emergency Response Team (ERT) approached the vehicle six hours after the original perimeter was established, where they set off a flashbang, which is a noise distraction device that sets off a deafening bang to distract the suspect. When no reaction was given, the EMT opened the door to find the suspect deceased.
In the midst of the tense scenario, directions were being yelled, numerous vehicle engines running the sound of Darabi’s .22 Caliber pistol simply went unheard.
“At some point, I started using the loudhailer, it wouldn’t have taken much. It was a .22, they don’t make a very big pop, we did not hear it, I wouldn’t have wanted to been silent, we had to be doing what we did, it does sadden us that he committed suicide 20 feet in front of us but he made a choice in that moment.”
