On the evening of March 4, 1995, probationary Cst. Daniel Kotanko was wounded while saving his partner from being shot near Longlac, Ontario. Cst. Kotanko had only four months of patrol duty experience when he and his partner arrested the inebriated driver of a stolen vehicle and put him into the police car. As they did so, three people pulled up alongside their car in another stolen vehicle. The driver jumped out uttering death threats and, pointing a gun at Cst. Kotanko's partner, ordered him out the car. The police officer was forced to kneel on the ground where an accomplice took his gun. Meanwhile, Cst. Kotanko had removed his revolver from its holster and was waiting for an opportunity to intervene. When he was ordered out of the car, he opened fire, allowing his partner time to take cover. Cst. Kotanko was wounded in the shoot-out that followed.