Josh Peterson knows gunshot wounds. He says he expected the worst when he showed up at the hospital emergency room to see his 66-year-old father.

Peterson is a veteran police officer in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, about 130 kilometers northeast of Saskatoon. On October 24, he learned that his father, Orlan, had survived a point-blank shotgun blast during a robbery north of the city.

Josh rushed to the hospital, imagining disaster scenarios in his head during a 10-minute drive “that seemed to take forever.”

“It was terrifying, I was basically thinking about what the funeral was going to be like, how I’m going to tell my brother and my sister,” Josh said in an interview.

“Then getting to the hospital and the emergency room was terrifying. But at the corner where I could see his face and he was still conscious, I was able to go in there and shake his hand, you know, and just say, ‘go on to fight against daddy. And he was very happy to see me.”

Orlan Peterson, seriously injured in a robbery that triggered a province-wide RCMP dangerous person alert, had walked a kilometer to a busy highway. A passerby stopped and called 911.

“I always said he was one of the toughest men I ever met,” Josh said.

“No stopping.”

“I can tell the story if you want.”

Josh is a supervisor with the Prince Albert Police Service and has just over 18 years of experience. On the morning of October 24, he was resting and preparing to move on to night work.

Orlan is a Senior Site Superintendent at RNF Ventures Ltd. in Prince Albert. He is a Red Seal Journeyman Carpenter with a Wall of Awards and 25 years of experience in the trade.

Josh said his father told him at the hospital what happened that morning on Lemper Road, north of Prince Albert. Josh met with CBC in a Prince Albert hotel room five days later, on October 29.

“I can tell the story if you want,” he said.

This is important, he added, because in the end, good triumphs over evil.

WATCH | Saskatchewan. The man describes how his father survived a shotgun blast and walked to get help:

Saskatchewan. man describes how his father survived shotgun blast and walked for help

Josh Peterson says his 66-year-old father survived a gunshot during a rural robbery thanks to a combination of luck, faith and courage.

‘Sorry bro, I have to shoot you’

Josh said his father arrived at the job site, about 9 miles north of the city, around 6:45 a.m. CST. He drove a company Dodge Ram truck.

“It’s dark, because it’s a rural construction site. So to have lighting and electricity, he was filling up the generator with gasoline. And then all of a sudden, he saw two vehicles coming screaming to the construction site, he says he saw the dust in the air and the headlights,” Josh said.

“All of a sudden this guy ran up to him, put the shotgun in his face and said, ‘Get on the ground’ and ‘Where’s all your stuff?’ And (Orlan) said, “It’s all in the truck, take the truck, it’s yours.” And then the guy hit him in the back of the head with the butt of the rifle. hunting. And then dad said he could feel the cold barrel at the base of his head, like in his neck, and he just started praying on.

Josh said that instead of pulling the trigger, the man ordered Orlan to get up and get into the trailer.

“Once in the trailer, (the attacker) told him, ‘Sorry bro, I have to shoot you.’ And Dad said he just buried his head and started praying.”

Orlan shifted his weight and tilted his left side forward, taking the shotgun blast through his shoulder and arm.

The man left the caravan, leaving Orlan for dead.

“Dad said he never lost consciousness, but at first he thought he had a gut injury because his whole body was on fire,” he said.

While he was bleeding and in pain, Orlan had other worries.

“He was afraid they would come back and finish him off, once they knew he was still alive. So he found some zip wire and closed the trailer door so they couldn’t not come back,” Josh said.

“He spent about an hour in the trailer.… Because his watch was on his left hand, he couldn’t reach it to see it. He was just trying to raise his hand. But he estimates that around 8 a.m., he was like, ‘OK, I have to go.’ So he just started walking.”

Dangerous people alert

Josh said he learned about what happened before the provincial alert was issued.

A friend of Josh’s lives just north of his father’s construction site. An electrician at the friend’s house mentioned that morning that he had heard a man had been shot just down the road, “and he looks like Orlan Peterson.”

The friend rushed to the scene, saw Orlan in the ambulance and called Josh.

At 9:55 a.m. CST, RCMP issued a province-wide dangerous person alert, sending cellphones buzzing with the disturbing message of a shooting, armed suspects on the loose and the need for the public to immediately take shelter. He warned of three or four armed and dangerous men wearing black hoods and driving Peterson’s white work truck.

More updates came in the following hours. The four suspects were believed to be heading north toward Tobin Lake on Highway 123.

The RCMP canceled the alert at 4:12 p.m. CST the same day.

The truck the suspects were in crashed into a heavy equipment vehicle on a northern highway. The group took off on foot into the forest, but was spotted by the Saskatoon police plane three kilometers away, along the bank of the Saskatchewan River.

Two of the suspects, a man and a woman, were arrested and charged with nine counts in connection with the attack, including aggravated assault, robbery with a firearm and discharging a firearm with intent. None of the allegations have been tested in court.

Police are still trying to identify and trace two other suspects who disappeared into the thick, dense bush and swamps.

A life of kindness

Josh said he was surprised, but not shocked, by the outpouring of support for his father as he recovers in a Saskatoon hospital.

Josh’s friend Brad Grolla organized a GoFundMe page to help offset medical costs and raised just over $103,000.

Peterson’s longtime employer, RNF Ventures Ltd., said on its employee profile: “The relationships he has developed within the industry are a testament to his easy-going nature and ability to do move things forward.

Josh said he still thinks about the conversation with his father after the shooting. Rather than thirsting for revenge, he said Orlan questioned the life circumstances that led the man in the trailer to shoot another man in cold blood.

“My father treated everyone like they were important. He was one of the kindest, gentlest people I’ve ever met in my life,” he said.

“What’s the takeaway? Make sure you treat everyone like they matter. Be compassionate. Go out of your way to be welcoming.

“I guess you’re never too old to stop learning from your father.”