Authorities have named a man accused of fatally shooting an Abbotsford police officer as Oscar Arfmann.

The 65-year-old resides near the town of Ashmont, Alberta, about a 175-kilometre drive east of Edmonton.

On Tuesday (November 7), Arfmann was charged with first-degree murder.

It remains unknown what the Alberta resident was doing in Abbotsford when he engaged in a confrontation with members of the Abbotsford Police Department (APD) in a parking lot on the 3200 block of Mount Lehman Road.

“We need to know more about Mr. Arfmann,” the RCMP Integrated Homicide Investigation Team’s Cpl. Frank Jang said at a news conference yesterday (November 7).

The Abbotsford police officer who was killed in the shootout was previously named as Constable John Davidson, a 24-year veteran of law enforcement who was employed by the APD since 2006.

An RCMP media release describes what happened.

"On November 6, 2017, just after 11:30 a.m., the Abbotsford Police Department responded to a report of a possible stolen vehicle in the parking lot of a shopping complex in the 3200-block of Mount Lehman Road," it reads. "Police believe that shots were fired towards the direction of the general public by the suspect. Multiple 911 calls were received by police.

"Shots were fired as police arrived at the scene. It was at this time that Cst. Davidson was fatally wounded. The suspect then fled in the stolen vehicle and was apprehended by Abbotsford police at the intersection of Mount Lehman Road and Fraser Highway."

Davidson is survived by his wife and three adult children.

“The Abbotsford Police Department lost an amazing colleague and friend who died in the line of duty," reads a November 6 APD media release. "Our community lost a hero."