SHOOTING: LANGLEY MOURNS RCMP DEATHS

Flags Have Been Lowered and Books of Condolences Are Being Started As
Langley Joins the Nation in Mourning the Loss of Four Mounties in Alberta.

Langley police officers are paying tribute to four colleagues who lost
their lives in Alberta, and are inviting the public to join them in
expressing their sorrow.

"Anytime an RCMP member is injured or killed in the line of duty, it
has a deep impact on us as an organization, and on the communities we
serve," said Langley RCMP spokesman Cpl. Dale Carr.

"The loss of these four was really overwhelming," he said, adding that
the tragedy has "deepened our resolve to keep the community safe from
criminals."

Four Mounties were shot to death on a farm in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, on
Thursday, March 3, when they investigated a suspected marijuana grow
operation.

Peter Schiemann, Lionide Johnston, Anthony Gordon, and Brock Myrol
died in the worst multiple killing of on-duty police officers in
Canada in 120 years.

The gunman, James Roszko, later took his own life.

He was described as a violent loner who had faced a number of criminal
charges, but served little time in jail.

"This is the kind of threat that RCMP officers deal with every day of
their working lives," said Langley City manager Cliff Gittens.

The City has written to the RCMP to express its condolences, and like
the Township of Langley, has lowered flags at all its facilities to
half mast.

Langley School District has also instructed all its schools to lower
their flags.

Langley RCMP officers have started books of condolences that will be
available for the public to sign.

The books will be at the main police detachment in Murrayville, and at
the Community Policing Offices in Walnut Grove, Langley City,
Brookswood, and Aldergrove, until Thursday, March 17.

Langley RCMP are also working on plans to commemorate the fallen
officers, and are considering sending members to Alberta, or holding a
memorial in the Vancouver area.

Langley firefighters are also mourning the officers'
loss.

"We work just about every call with the police," said Langley City
Fire Chief Jim McGregor, who wrote a poem about the slain officers,
called Four Black Horses.

"The whole issue is a reflection on everything that we do," McGregor
said. "Nothing is simple or should be taken for granted."

"It's dangerous on the job, and grow ops are always a problem," said
Langley Township Assistant Fire Chief Len Foss. "You don't know what
you are going into."

Last week's shooting was "bound to happen," said Foss, as people who
grow marijuana continue to go to great lengths to protect their operations.

A recent study of grow ops in the Lower Mainland showed that 11 per
cent of them are outfitted with booby-traps and weapons, Carr said,
and guns are involved in six per cent of them.

It's a situation that can be scary - and frustrating.

"We have to be professional in all our operations and keep bringing
these people before the courts, and hopefully the judges will finally
see the light and decide to put these people away," Carr said.

He noted, however, that judges are often guided by a set of rules that
are laid down by law.

"These are the parameters we are playing the law enforcement game in,"
said Carr.

Solicitor General and Fort Langley-Aldergrove MLA Rich Coleman said
the courts should be reflective of the needs of the community, noting
that no drug offences committed over the last 20 years have garnered a
maximum sentence.

Coleman, a former Mountie, said his reaction to the tragedy is "hard
to describe."

"My first thoughts on it were thoughts and prayers for everybody," he
said.

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FOUR BLACK HORSES

Four black horses without riders

Galloped the Alberta plain;

Four black horses, sent from Depot

To bring the boys home again.

Four black horses with empty saddles

Race the cold prairie sun;

Four black horses arrive at the farmyard

As the last bullet leaves the gun.

Four black horses stand with heads bowed

Wait til the echoes subside;

Four black horses turn as they're mounted,

Now their heads held high with pride.

Four mounted policemen take hold of the reins

Spur their mounts holding lances high;

Four black horses, red serge in the saddles,

Disappear in the Alberta sky.

by Jim McGregor