RCMP have recommended a charge of attempted murder against a man who allegedly stabbed a rookie Mountie.
The officer, a member of the North Vancouver RCMP for six months, was investigating a call of a suspicious vehicle Wednesday night when Mounties say a man stepped out of the car and swung a knife.
The officer suffered a serious gash to his forearm but was able to subdue the suspect with his taser and make an arrest, RCMP said.
"We, as police officers, hope these days never happen," RCMP spokesman Corporal Peter DeVries said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
"We hope that we're never attacked in a way that makes us fear for our lives. But it's something we're aware of, it's something we accept, it's something that we know is a part of the job."
Cpl. DeVries, who held the news conference on the same quiet stretch of road where the altercation occurred, said the suspect is a 61-year-old man. The man is not known to police and his name has not been released.
The officer and suspect were both taken to hospital after the incident.
Cpl. DeVries said it took more than 20 stitches to close the officer's wound.
"Paramedics at the scene said the gash, if it had been mere centimetres to one side or the other, it could have struck the brachial artery, which would have resulted in a quick loss of blood and potentially a very quick death," he said, adding that the suspect also tried to attack the officer's torso.
The Mountie, who is in his twenties, has since been released from hospital. Cpl. DeVries could not say when the officer might return to duty.
The suspect remained in hospital Thursday. Cpl. DeVries said he did not have details on the nature or severity of the man's injuries.
Cpl. DeVries said it is standard for RCMP officers to work on their own after they've been with the force for a couple of months.