4 RCMP DIE IN DRUG RAID

Grow-Op Probe Ends in Death

MAYERTHORPE, ALTA. -- Four RCMP officers -- almost the entire
membership of a rural detachment -- were shot and killed Thursday in
one of the darkest days in RCMP history.

Florence Loyie and Mike Sadava CanWest News Service

The officers -- one of whom was identified by a family friend as
Const. Brock Myrol, 29, -- were investigating a suspected marijuana
growing operation at a farm near Mayerthorpe, a community about 130
kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, in an emotional news
conference in Ottawa Thursday evening confirmed the deaths.

"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," said Zaccardelli.

"It is an unprecedented and unspeakable loss."

It was the first time in decades that multiple Canadian police
officers have been killed while in action and it prompted a statement
from Prime Minister Paul Martin.

"Canadians are shocked by this brutality, and join me in condemning
the violent acts that brought about these deaths," Martin said.

"This terrible event is a reminder of the sacrifice and bravery of the
men and women who serve in our national police force, and of the
dangerous circumstances which they often confront, in order to make
Canada a safer place."

RCMP say three members who died were from the Mayerthorpe detachment
and one from a detachment in nearby Whitecourt. A family friend said
Myrol had started with the Mayerthorpe detachment on Feb. 14. He was
originally from Red Deer, Alta. The other officers were not
immediately identified.

The officers were guarding the scene of an investigation at a large
quonset hut at a farm in Rochfort Bridge near the community of
Mayerthorpe Thursday morning when shots were fired by a lone gunman
who apparently caught the officers by surprise. The gunman died at the
scene.

"We're all in terrible shock and mourning as you can imagine," said
assistant RCMP Commissioner Bill Sweeney of K Division in Alberta.

"This is a tremendous loss," added Alberta Solicitor General Harvey
Cenaiko, who was visibly shaken. "It was a senseless act."

"Four officers died today."

The prime minister also expressed his condolences to the families of
the four officers, who were all male junior members.

"On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to express my
condolences to the families of the officers who were killed as they
carried out their duty in enforcing the law and protecting the
public," said Martin.

Two of the officers were at the farmhouse overnight, guarding the
scene in an investigation that also involved stolen property, said
Oakes. The other two officers joined them in the morning. Other
Mounties who were on the scene heard shots at 10 a.m., and the
decision was made to call in help, said RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes.

Just after 2 p.m., officers stormed the building and found the bodies
of the officers and the suspect, James Roszko.

"There are four dead," an officer said at the police operations base
at a legion hall in Mayerthorpe as relatives of the deceased officers
arrived mid-afternoon. One woman collapsed in tears after speaking
with one of the officers, then got in her car and drove away.

Officers and soldiers dressed in bullet-proof vests and carrying
high-powered rifles came and went from the operations base, many with
tears in their eyes.

More than 100 officers were on the scene, along with soldiers from the
Canadian military, who provided three Bison armoured vehicles.

There was confusion throughout the day after Cenaiko told reporters
that officers were executing a search warrant when they were met with
gunfire. The four officers had failed to respond to their radios after
conducting the raid.

Midday Oakes said there was reason to believe a lone male suspect was
armed with a high-powered rifle.

But Oakes would not release any more information at the time, saying
RCMP did not want to jeopardize the officers' safety.

RCMP set up roadblocks around the farm and the air space over the area
was closed throughout the day. A television station in Edmonton
reported that neighbours believe a man tried to flee the property at
high speed Wednesday night.

Maj. Scott Lundy, a spokesman for Edmonton Garrison, said 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.

Emotions ran high, with local residents striking out at reporters and
photographers who had descended on the town. One CBC cameraman was
reportedly punched in the eye by a relative of one of the deceased
officers.

Mayerthorpe Mayor Albert Schalm said: "I'm sick. I don't know what to
tell you. It shocks me that this could even happen."

James Roszko, the suspect in the shooting, was well known around town
as being violent and mentally unstable.

"Cops have known about him for a long time," said Pat Burns, a local
carpenter. "The justice system doesn't have the balls to do what needs
to be done."

Several people in town said there were rumours of Roszko hiding
weapons on his property. The suspect is also reputed to have put
planks with spikes in his driveway. When election workers came in
before the last provincial election, the spikes blew out their tires.

He was described as a loner who lived in a trailer on the west side of
the farm, and his mother lived in a home on the other side of the large farm.

In Whitecourt, Mayor Trevor Thain said: "The detachment is a great
bunch of people and I'm sure I can't even begin to imagine how they
feel right now."

Thain said the Whitecourt detachment has about 15 officers while the
Mayerthorpe detachment has about three or four members. Those numbers
don't include a highway patrol unit which is administered through the
Whitecourt detachment.

The officers who were shot were not part of the drug
squad.

Thursday's shooting was the first time in nearly 20 years since
multiple Canadian police officers were slain in action. On July 4,
1985, Const. Jacques Giguere and his partner Const. Yves Tetu of the
Quebec Police Service were gunned down as they investigated the
tripping of a burglar alarm at a medical equipment warehouse.

Forty officers in Canada have died in the line of duty since
2000.

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein was shaken by the deaths.

"The violent slaying of four Alberta RCMP officers in the line of duty
is a crime of horrific proportions. It saddens me beyond words. Their
loss is immeasurable. Immeasurable, too, is the sympathy and respect
that all Albertans feel for the four lost officers and for those who
knew them and loved them."

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HISTORIC TRAGEDY

The fatal shooting of four RCMP officers near Mayerthorpe, Alta., on
Thursday is the worst multiple killing of on-duty police in Canada
since 17 Northwest Mounted Police officers and five Metis were killed
on March 26, 1885 in the Northwest Rebellion, according to RCMP
Commanding Officer Bill Sweeney.