I DON'T BLAME POLICE FOR INCIDENT

Gordon Sinclair Jr.

BE warned. The readers are angry, and they know where I work.

We received a tsunami-like crush of letters following last weekend's
coverage about the drug-raid shooting of three police officers and
the man charged with the attempted murder of two of them.

By "we" I mean our letters editor and me personally.

One letter published elsewhere in today's paper is from a police
officer's wife.

"It's too bad that while three men lie in hospital rooms after being
shot, Gordon Sinclair Jr. chooses to place the blame yet again on the
Winnipeg Police Service."

She's entitled to her perception, of course. But it's not the reality.

I did not, and do not, blame the police for what happened.

But that doesn't mean the shootings shouldn't be investigated
objectively and thoroughly in case there's a chance of learning
something that would improve future officer safety.

Ironically, my story that incited the police wife's letter actually
complimented the police who were there when the shooting started.

The father of Daniell Ian Anderson, the 21-year-old man charged with
the shooting, thanked police for their restraint -- and I would add
their professionalism -- in not shooting and killing his son.

But the anger that flows like a toxic river through most of the
letters appears to come from the way we gave the accused shooter's
family a chance to have their say.

People wanted to know: What about the police officers' families?

Unfortunately, and understandably, the police families have chosen
not to give interviews. And the police service isn't commenting. So
Anderson's family, alone, was left to talk about their son.

In the most glowing of terms, of course.

That prompted this response:

"Dear Mr. Sinclair,

"If he was such a fine, upstanding young man why did he run and hide
in a bathroom with a loaded gun, without thinking about the welfare
of his mom and girlfriend? Such a 'caring, considerate' boy!!! He
(allegedly) shot through the bathroom door at whoever was on the
other side...what if it had been said mother and girlfriend? There is
so much to this story that we haven't heard yet. I read that the
young man was battered and bruised and allegedly being refused pain
medication. Is that true?"

As for police refusing to let him fill prescriptions for
pain-relievers the hospital gave him, we only have his lawyer's say
so to go by.

And the police silence on the accusation, of course.

We remind you that none of the charges against Anderson has been
proven in court.

* * * There was more from another reader.

"Daniell Anderson is portrayed as a victim in your article.

"... face like an eggplant". He didn't know it was the police. He was
the victim of a previous home invasion, he was beat up and stabbed.
So is the "Sinclair spin" that his actions were justifiable?"

There is nothing that justifies what happened to the wounded police
officers and their families.

But the last time I checked, Anderson had only been charged with the
shooting. It's yet to be proven that he purposely pulled the trigger
from behind the bathroom door. A report in another media, in fact,
purportedly quotes an anonymous police source as suggesting
Anderson's loss of three fingers of his left hand and being shot in
his right elbow could be the result of a self-inflicted wound or wounds.

In other words, the firearm discharged accidentally.

What a great defence for his lawyers.

Another reader, another thought.

* * * Finally, the last word -- as it should -- goes to the police.

Actually, a retired officer.

He didn't have to be there to know what it was like for the officers
on the raid.

"Gordon, there is real fear going in to 'search' a place you don't
know. Absolutely every time the loudest thing you hear is 'Winnipeg
Police, search warrant' because you hope so sincerely those words
will cause an immediate 'YIELD'; on the inside and there won't be any
resistance.

"It is part of the job. The people that keep you and I safe don't
want to die. They go through the suspect's door knowing that at any
minute their life could be over. On Thursday night those fears almost
became reality and what do they get? A twisted distorted view of the
truth that has made you look like a goof."