This happened not too far from my city, Edmonton - yesterday. My heart goes out to those officers families.


Canadians mourn the slaying of four Mounties
CTV.ca News Staff

Flags are flying at half mast at RCMP detachments across the country in remembrance of the four Mounties who were killed in the line of duty in Alberta on Thursday.

Canadians mourning the shooting deaths of the four, killed at a marijuana grow operation, will follow Prime Minister Paul Martin's lead on Friday when he calls for a moment of silence.

Not since the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 have so many members of Canada's national police force been killed in a single day.

At approximately 10 a.m. MT Thursday, a shootout broke out between police and a male suspect at a farmhouse in Rochfort Bridge near the community of Mayerthorpe, about 130 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

When other Mounties arrived on the scene, they found four officers and the gunman dead, reportedly having killed himself. CTV's Todd Battis reports that the gunman is believed to have used a semi-automatic assault rifle.

"It is with profound sadness that I confirm that four members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were killed today in service to our country," RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli said Thursday night in Ottawa.

"It is an unprecedented and unspeakable loss."

The RCMP is expected to release more details and respond to questions Friday about whether a proper threat assessment was made before the officers conducted the raid.

On Thursday Zaccardelli said all proper procedures were followed but that policing is never without risk.

But Tony Cannavino, president of the Canadian Professional Police Association, said the killings send a message that its the legislation that needs to change.

"It sends again a message that there's no deterrent effect on grow-ops. That's why we lobby the government, we ask them for stronger laws," he said, appearing on CTV's Canada AM.

Gunman a 'walking time bomb'

Friends and family have identified the gunman as Jim Roszko, whose father Bill described as "a wicked devil" who had a lifetime hatred of police.

Bill Roszko said Jim had an angry streak as far back as he can remember: "Because of the drugs, you know, and the bad company with bad boys . . . dragged him off the good tracks," he told CTV's Edmonton affiliate CFRN.

"I don't want to have him as my son for what he was like and the way things ended up. He is not my son," Roszko told CFRN.

His sister Josephine, who identified his body, said he wasn't the monster others believed him to be.

"He had a good heart and he never hurt us in any way," she told CFRN.

CFRN reports Jim Roszko was the youngest in a large family, and that his troubled life led others in the family to stay away from him.

Reporting from the scene Thursday night, CTV's Sarah Galashan said others in the town described Roszko as a "walking time bomb."

Devastating loss

Although the RCMP has not released the names of the deceased officers, CTV's Battis reported that Const. Brock Myrol was one of the officers gunned down.

The Toronto Star reported that the 29-year-old's first day on the job was this past Valentine's Day and he and his fiancee Anjila had just moved to the town.

In a recent interview, Myrol told a local paper that he joined the RCMP because "I wanted the opportunity to work with people and make a difference."

"He had been a security guard for some time and decided that he would join the RCMP because he wanted to get a greater sense of working with the community, and he was really enjoying his work in the short amount of time that he was on the job," Battis reported from the scene.

"We know that he got into the RCMP and that was the thrill of his lifetime," he said.

Another one of the dead officers was an ace marksman, reports say.

Sharpshooter Const. Leo Johnston entered the service four years ago with his twin brother.

Sweeney confirmed that three of the officers were based in Mayerthorpe, and one was from Whitecourt, Alberta. They were all junior members of the force.

Farm was under surveillance

The operation began Wednesday afternoon, when officers from the local Mayerthorpe detachment placed the farmyard under surveillance.

Two officers remained at the farm overnight, and they were joined by backup Thursday morning.

The occupant of the farm had not been there overnight, but at some point he had returned.

Officers remaining on the road heard gunshots and took cover, and at least one of them returned fire. After the shots died down, none of the police on the property responded to their radios.

Emergency response teams from Calgary and Edmonton were called to the scene. The Edmonton Police Service's helicopter was called, as were three armoured vehicles from the Canadian Forces' Edmonton Garrison.

Finally, at about 2:20 p.m., an RCMP team burst into the Quonset to find the four dead officers.

Sgt. Rick Oncescu of the Calgary RCMP said two SWAT teams were called into the area, and Mounties from surrounding jurisdictions also went to the scene.

The military received a request just after 12:30 p.m. from the RCMP for assistance, said spokesman for Edmonton Garrison Maj. Scott Lundy.

Two armoured personnel carriers, an ambulance and about 20 military personnel were dispatched from the military base, but about two hours later, police told the military their help was no longer needed.

With files from CTV's Sarah Galashan and The Canadian Press

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