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When she peeked up again, she saw the police car had been smashed on a driveway opposite hers. The police vehicle’s driver-side door suffered major damage, the front was crushed and automotive fluid was leaking from the vehicle. A large black truck then sped away from the scene, Kirsch said.

Photo by Kayle Neis / Saskatoon StarPhoenix

The suspect vehicle, which had an unknown number of occupants, rammed “at least one police cruiser” as the driver tried to flee the scene, according to police.

An officer in the patrol car that was rammed on Clearwater Place was taken to hospital with unknown injuries, police said. Witnesses described the officer being taken from the scene via ambulance.

Nicole Giesbrecht, who lives on Clearwater and looks down into the cul-de-sac, said she was inside watching a movie when she heard what sounded like at least three gunshots. She said it also sounded like a vehicle was revving when she heard what she believed to be the shots fired.

“We were like, What the heck?'” she said.

The air support unit tracked the suspect vehicle until it was involved in a collision with a white truck at Airport Drive and Circle Drive. Police said the driver of the stolen vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. The man’s identity was not immediately confirmed, police said.

According to Saskatoon police on Tuesday morning, the occupants of the white truck were taken to hospital as a precaution.

The major crime and forensic identification units, as well as collision analysts, were investigating. Significant traffic restrictions were in place following the crash.