Photo: The Canadian Press

UPDATE: 2:50 p.m.

An Alberta man "ambushed" a police officer moments after he got out of his vehicle, shooting him from behind and then standing over his unmoving body and shooting him again, a British Columbia court heard Monday.

Crown prosecutor Theresa Iandiorio made the allegations in her opening arguments in the trial of Oscar Arfmann, who is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Const. John Davidson of the Abbotsford Police Department.

Davidson, 53, died Nov. 6, 2017, after responding to reports of a possible stolen vehicle and shots fired.

Arfmann, 66, pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial Monday, which is being held before a judge alone.

Iandiorio told the trial the Crown plans to call 30 witnesses to prove that Arfmann killed Davidson using a rifle found in the passenger seat of a black Mustang he was driving. Several knives and ammunition for the rifle were also recovered from the vehicle, she said.

Arfmann is alleged to have taken the Mustang from a car dealership without paying for it two days before the incident, she told the court.

When employees of the dealership spotted the Mustang parked in a handicap spot, the dealership manager parked his pickup to block it from leaving and reported it to police.

Arfmann returned to the car before police arrived, and when the manager approached him he pulled out a knife, then reached into the Mustang for a rifle and shot toward the pickup, she said.

He got in the car, jumped a curb and began driving away, but Iandiorio said he made a U-turn back to the complex where she alleged he had a second vehicle parked.

Const. Davidson was the first officer on the scene and was shot from behind within moments of getting out of his vehicle, Iandiorio said.

– The Canadian Press

UPDATE: 11:05 a.m.

A man charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of an Abbotsford police officer has pleaded not guilty.

Oscar Arfmann made the plea in a B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster before a trial by judge alone.

He was charged after an exchange of gunfire with police who were responding to a report of a possible stolen vehicle on Nov. 6, 2017.

He's accused of killing 53-year-old Const. John Davidson, who had been with the Fraser Valley police department for 11 years.

Arfmann, who is 66 years old, appeared in court for the start of his trial dressed in a black sweatsuit with a long grey beard and hair that reached his shoulders.

– The Canadian Press

Photo: AbbyPD

ORIGINAL: 6:30 a.m.

The trial in the killing of an Abbotsford Police officer begins today.

Oscar Arfmann, 67, is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of Const. John Davidson in November 2017 on busy Mount Lehman Road.

Davidson was shot during a takedown following an attempted car theft and later died in hospital, CTV News reports.

Arfmann was arrested after a chase that ended in a crash and more gunfire.

The trial will take place at B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.

– with files from CTV Vancouver