LAVAL OFFICER FATALLY SHOT IN DRUG RAID

Suspect Wounded

MONTREAL - Constable Daniel Tessier, fatally shot in a predawn drug
raid yesterday, became the second Laval, Que., officer in 15 months
to be killed in the line of duty.

The death of Const. Tessier, a 42-year-old father of two, will have a
considerable impact on the morale of the force, Laval's police chief
said yesterday.

"I would say our people are in deep shock, very heavy shock," Chief
Jean-Pierre Gariepy told reporters.

Just 15 months ago, another Laval police officer, Constable Valerie
Gignac, 25, was shot dead while responding to a noise complaint.
Const. Tessier, who is married to Repentigny, Que., police Constable
Dominique Lapointe and leaves behind two daughters, aged 10 and 12,
was shot during a raid on a home in Brossard, a suburb of Montreal.

Laval Constable Stephane Forbes, 46, was shot in the arm and was in
good condition in hospital yesterday. At least a dozen other officers
were involved in the raid. A man inside the Brossard home was
arrested. A woman in the home was also shot during the exchange of
fire and transported to a hospital, where she remained last night.

A six-year-old girl and a 15- year-old boy -- believed to be the
children of the man and woman -- were also in the house, said Quebec
provincial police Lieutenant Francois Dore.

Although Const. Tessier had 17 years of experience with the force,
yesterday's raid came only a week after his appointment to the drug
and morality squad of the police force in Laval, a city located north
of Montreal.

Chief Gariepy said Const. Tessier had undergone specialized training
and was qualified to handle a situation such as the one that unfolded
in Brossard around 5 a.m.

"Sometimes ? it's like if you flip a coin. You get lucky or it turns
out to be the other way. This morning, it turned out the other way."

He later added: "We have dangerous work. And when you do dangerous
work, there are risks. You have the training, you have all the
equipment necessary -- but still, you're left with an extremely
dangerous grey zone. There's always that thin line that when you
cross it, it's risky, it's dangerous."

Exactly what happened is not yet clear. The Quebec provincial police
force is handling the investigation. They began their probe yesterday
by sequestering the officers who took part in the operation and
questioning them.

At the news conference, the only moment when Chief Gariepy struggled
to keep his composure was when he described opening up Const.
Tessier's employment file and discovering he had dropped out of
civil-engineering studies to become a police officer.

"You could tell from what he wrote on his application form that his
heart was really into it," the Chief said.

Gilles Lemieux, president of the Laval police union, said of Const.
Tessier's death: "For us, this is really, really hard. But we will
work hard on morale."

Const. Tessier will be honoured at a civic funeral that will likely
take place next Thursday or Friday.