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Dashcam footage shows killer of Abbotsford police officer holding gun

Dashcam footage shows killer of Abbotsford police officer holding gun

New dashcam footage obtained by CBC News shows some of the dramatic events that led up to the 2017 murder of Abbotsford police Const. John Davidson.

The footage, entered as evidence in the trial of convicted killer Oscar Arfmann, is from a civilian witness who had been driving through an Abbotsford mall complex when he spotted a man with a gun.

The video first shows Arfmann pointing a rifle into a blue truck and later holding a rifle while standing next to a black Mustang.

Const. Davidson, a veteran policeman and father of three, was shot and killed on Nov. 6, 2017 in the line of duty as he responded to reports of a stolen vehicle.

Two days prior, Arfmann had stolen a black Mustang from an Abbotsford car dealership. The dealership's manager spotted the car parked outside a Quiznos on the day of the shooting and parked a truck behind the vehicle to stop it from leaving.

He and another witness confronted Arfmann when he returned to the stolen vehicle and told him police were on their way.

Arfmann reached inside the vehicle and pulled out a rifle, firing two shots at the truck blocking the stolen Mustang.

Abbotsford Police Department
Abbotsford Police Department

Audio from the dashcam video was removed as part of a ruling from the B.C. Supreme Court judge who found Arfmann guilty of the first-degree murder of Const. Davidson.

The video belongs to witness Lawrence Seifert, who saw a man pointing a rifle into a truck, followed the black Mustang for several blocks, and was one of several witnesses who alerted police to the dramatic set of events underway.

Arfmann was taken down by police shortly after killing Davidson.

He was found guilty of first-degree murder by B.C. Supreme Court judge Carol Ross in October 2019.

Thousands attended funeral

In 2017, hundreds of first responders and members of the public gathered on overpasses and along Highway 1 to pay tribute to fallen police constable as his funeral motorcade made its way from Vancouver General Hospital to an Abbotsford funeral home. Thousands more attended his funeral a week later at the Abbotsford Centre.

Arfmann will be sentenced next month in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. First-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life without the possibility of parole for 25 years.