A shot was fired at three Langley animal control officers during a police confrontation on 0 Avenue Friday night, Nov. 10, that ended with a fire and the apparent death of 66-year-old Don Bennett.

More details of the incident were disclosed by Sarah Jones, executive director of the Aldergrove-based Langley Animal Protection Society, who told the Langley Advance Times the officers arrived to find a police standoff underway at a barn in the 23500 block of 0, the road that runs along the Canada-U.S. border.

鈥淭hey were told [by RCMP] that there was a wellness check happening, and there were dogs blocking access to the person,鈥� Jones said.

鈥淲e were called in because one of [Bennett鈥檚] dogs was in the outside of the barn in the fenced-off area, and so they could not access the door. So we went in to 鈥榗atch pole鈥� that dog [and] we did that without incident. Then there was another dog, heard from inside, and that dog was in with Mr. Bennett.鈥�

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After what Jones described as a 鈥渟ignificant amount of time鈥� with no response from Bennett, the officers decided to investigate.

鈥淢r. Bennett didn鈥檛 say anything to them. They didn鈥檛 know if he was alive or not, or even in there, so they needed to check, so they jimmied open the door,鈥� Jones described.

鈥淚t was really dark in the barn. When they attempted to open the barn door to retrieve the second dog, that moment is when the shot came through the door towards my officers.鈥�

No one was hit, but as the officers scrambled to find cover, 鈥渙ur manager of animal control thought that one of his officers was shot, and one of the officers thought [the manager] was shot, because they went in opposite directions. For a while there, they thought each other had been shot, and that鈥檚 I think that was the hardest[for them].鈥�

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Jones said the three officers included one who had been on the job just two weeks and came along to learn how to use a catch pole.

A counselor was brought in.

鈥淪he was called that evening and had a session with each of them in the night to make sure that they were okay,鈥� Jones said.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e getting the mental health and emotional support they need, and they鈥檙e doing remarkably well, but I think this [is] something that [can] show up later.鈥�

WorkSafe B.C. was to meet with the three Wednesday to do a 鈥渃ritical incident鈥� debrief.

Jones described the shooting as 鈥渧ery scary鈥� and the 鈥渃all I never wanted to get.鈥�

鈥淚 send my staff out and I want them to come home safe,鈥� she said.

 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very dangerous job, and I don鈥檛 think a lot of people understand how dangerous animal control is. They鈥檙e essentially first responders, because if somebody is being attacked by a dog, their job is to go in and resolve that issue. They don鈥檛 get to run away. Their job is to go and secure the dog.鈥�

The second dog was retrieved and both are at LAPS, where Jones described them as 鈥渘ot in good shape and behaviorally not sound.鈥� One has a 鈥渂ite history,鈥� she said.

A subsequent fire destroyed the building and two police vehicles Friday night. Bennett was believed to be inside, but that had not been confirmed as of Wednesday.

The incident is being investigated by the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), a civilian-led police oversight agency responsible for conducting investigations into police-officer-involved incidents of death or serious harm.