GREEN TEAM LEARNING HOW TO COPE

Six RCMP-Edmonton city police Green Team members - four of whom were
involved in the rural bust that escalated into a mass killing - were on
days off Friday but worked it instead as a way to cope with the slayings.
The team of RCMP and city police officers had come and gone from a
marijuana bust Wednesday on a farm near Rochfort Bridge, 120 km northwest
of Edmonton, before four Mounties were gunned down there the next day.

"It was hard to know how to deal with it. You had all these different types
of feelings. It was kind of nice to get together with the guys," said city
police team member Det. Darren Derko, adding news of the slayings was
"surreal."

"I know exactly what that word means now. It's hard to explain. I've got no
words. You just felt sick in your stomach and didn't know what to think or
what to do."

Derko, with three other Green Team members, went to the Mayerthorpe-area
farm around midnight Wednesday with a search warrant to check a Quonset
hut. Inside they found 300 marijuana plants and evidence of a vehicle chop
shop.

Roughly 4 a.m. Thursday, the Green Team left. Two Mounties were left to
guard the Quonset hut. Within hours, they were shot dead along with two of
their comrades.

Derko - who had just met some of the officers that night - and fellow Green
Team members reflected on the bust during a steak dinner after work Friday.

"You question yourself, 'Did I miss something? Could I have done something
differently?'

"It was just nice to talk to the guys. I don't know if we could've done
anything differently," said Derko. "Yeah, the guy has a history with the
police, but we were aware of that."

RCMP Cpl. Lorne Adamitz, a Green Team member with Derko during the
Mayerthorpe-area bust, knew on a professional basis constables Peter
Schiemann, Anthony Gordon and Lionide (Leo) Johnston - three of the four
dead Mounties.

"We frequently have interaction with detachment personnel," said Adamitz,
adding the Friday dinner was to bond.

"The way we dealt with it is going out for a team dinner. If something
happened in your family, you'd probably get together with family members
and just discuss things."

Derko said it was like a sports team getting together.

"This is the same thing. It's a brotherhood," said Derko.

Before the dinner, all of the six-member team worked to investigate a
possible theft of power complaint, which is common at marijuana grow
operations.