COPS KILLED IN 'AMBUSH'

Gunman Slipped Back Onto Farm, Opened Fire On Officers In Hours After
Grow-Op Raid

COP-KILLER James Roszko used his marijuana plants as bait to lure
officers into a deadly ambush, his father says. His claim was
bolstered by Mounties, who admitted in a press conference yesterday
that the deadly encounter was in fact an "ambush."

"Jim wasn't there when they got there, so he snuck up on them later,"
Bill Roszko said of his son who was a known cop-hater.

"The four police (who died) all got shot right in the steel building,
right where the marijuana was. It seems to me he must of snuck up on
them as part of some kind of set-up and then shot them. It seems like
he was waiting for them to go to the marijuana."

Constables Anthony Gordon, 28, Leo Johnston, 32, Brock Myrol, 29, and
Peter Schiemann, 25, died in the Thursday morning shooting.

The RCMP yesterday said James Roszko, 46, managed to slip back into
his Quonset hut while police were watching it in the hours prior to
the shootout near Rochfort Bridge, Alta., about 130 km northwest of
Edmonton.

Wounded Roszko

"Our officers, all four of them, were shot and killed by James
Roszko," regional Supt. Marty Cheliak said as he released results of
post-mortem examinations.

"None of our officers were struck by friendly fire. James Roszko was
hit by return fire by our officers. Those strikes did not result in
his death. James Roszko then took his own life."

Cheliak labelled the attack an "ambush" but wouldn't elaborate except
to say, "the investigation has shown that that's exactly what took
place."

Cheliak did not make it clear if one of the four officers shot Roszko
or whether it was two additional officers who arrived minutes after
the shooting and exchanged gunfire with Roszko.

Bill Roszko said his son was capable of such a plan because of his
hatred of police officers.

"He was crazy to shoot those officers, those poor officers," he said.
"He had a lot of anger against the police."

James Roszko was a convicted child molester, a community menace and a
known cop-hater with a lengthy criminal record beginning in 1999, that
also included convictions for property offences, failure to comply
with court orders, harassing calls and uttering threats. "The more he
dealt with(police officers), the more he didn't like them," his father
said.

It was common knowledge that Roszko had weapons on his farm. An
application to search the property for stolen goods and a marijuana
operation indicated Mounties were well aware they were dealing with a
volatile individual.

Chop Shop

Police said they found around 300 marijuana plants and evidence of a
vehicle chop shop, a car-parts theft operation on the property.

Bill Roszko said his son had a long history of marijuana use, although
he never knew James was growing it. "The first time we caught Jim with
marijuana he was hiding it under his mattress when he was 13," Roszko
said. "I'm sure he spent a lot of his time all doped up."