Search ongoing after motorist shoots police officer near Golden, B.C.

RCMP are continuing their search after a motorist shot an officer and stole a vehicle near Golden, B.C., causing the shutdown of 122 kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway for several hours.

RCMP say officers were conducting a vehicle stop for a possible theft at approximately 2:30 p.m. PT when the suspect failed to comply with orders from police.

According to Rob Creasser, with the Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada, during the altercation a female officer was shot in the arm, after which a nearby vehicle was stolen. Creasser says there may be several suspects.

RCMP Sgt. Rob Vermeulen says an active search is currently underway.  

The closure affected Highway 1 in both directions from Revelstoke to the small community of Donald, 26 kilometres northwest of Golden. 

At 8 p.m. PT, Vermeulen said traffic was being allowed through, but that the highway wasn't fully reopened. Some drivers spent the night in their vehicles as the highway remained closed overnight for the search, according to DriveBC. The highway re-opened just before 5 a.m. PT.

"Thank you very much to the motoring public for their patience. These are serious allegations, and our officers needed to work quickly to gather perishable evidence," he said in a statement.

With files from The Canadian Press