UNITED IN GRIEF, ANGER

Shocked Nation Mourns Deaths, Seeks Answers

ROCHFORT BRIDGE, Alta. -- A nation mourned yesterday, and with the grief
and tears came many questions -- some to be answered by investigators
combing a crime scene in rural Alberta, and some by politicians already
discussing new laws to deal with drugs and violence.

One of the four police officers killed Thursday was valedictorian of his
RCMP graduating class -- just one month ago.

Another was a young father, looking forward to the birth of his second child.

One had a twin brother who was also a member of the force; both were expert
marksmen who wore special badges on their uniforms.

The fourth, and youngest, was the son of a Lutheran minister and a school
teacher.

The man who murdered them, and died shortly afterwards, was a psychopath
who owned automatic weapons and was aching for the chance to use them, his
brother said.

'He loved the RCMP and all it stood for'

The following is a transcript of a statement made yesterday by Colleen
Myrol, mother of slain RCMP member Brock Myrol.

THE family of Brock Myrol are deeply saddened by the sudden and tragic loss
of Brock.

However, it is time that our government takes a stand on evil.

The man who murdered our son and brother was a person who was deeply
disturbed and ill. It is our duty as Canadians to stop and rethink how we
are raising our children.

It is time to teach honour of our country. Brock knew that.

It is time to care for our fellow man. Brock knew that.

It is time to end the violence and stop the bullying on the play yard so
our children won't commit suicide. Brock knew that.

It is time as parents, whether a single-or two-parent family, to raise our
children with honour for country, where a man's word is his bond.

Brock knew that.

It is time to take our liberal-minded attitude to task.

Prime Minister Paul Martin, we depend on you and expect you to change the
laws and give the courts real power. Give the police real power. Take the
power away from the Supreme Court and give it back to the House of Commons.

We are a good country. Brock knew that.

He loved the RCMP and all it stood for.

Our country is hurting. We have lost four dedicated citizens who were
willing to do something about it.

Children who are raised with hopes, dreams and goals, and not in houses
filled with drugs and violence, will be better people. Brock knew that.

Canadians are wonderful, loving, caring people. Brock knew that and
dedicated his life to preserving that tradition.

From the Myrol family to the families of the other constables that are
dealing with extreme and eternal loss, we are sorry.

We share and feel your pain. God bless you all.

Respectfully,

Keith, Colleen, Patricia, Kalhanie, Robert, Anjila, Blake, Rachel, Loren,
and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and very good friends.

"Why in the hell would they ever send those cops down there like that?"
said George Roszko of Whitecourt, who is four years older than his
estranged brother, James. "What in the hell were they thinking, that they
were going on a picnic? I mean, everybody knew him. The tragedy is that
every community has some kind of a violent, psychopathic criminal mind
living there, but when you know that, what are you doing, sending the boys
out on a picnic?"

Families of the dead constables -- Peter Christopher Schiemann, Anthony
Fitzgerald Orion Gordon, Lionide Nicholas Johnston and Brock Warren Myrol
- -- spoke yesterday about their pride and their pain. But the Myrol family
also pointed fingers.

"It is time that our government takes a stand on evil," Colleen Myrol, the
mother of Const. Myrol, said in statement she read to reporters. "The man
who murdered our son and brother was a person who was deeply disturbed and ill.

"It is our duty as Canadians to stop and think how we are raising our
children. It is time to teach honour of our country. Brock knew that."

The family asked the prime minister to make changes to the laws, to "give
the courts real power," and "give the power back to the police."

Police offered few details of what happened Thursday morning on the farm
near Rochfort Bridge, about 110 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. What is
known, is that RCMP officers went to a farm owned by James Roszko on
Wednesday to assist a sheriff in serving a court order to seize some
property. While there, police found evidence of a marijuana grow-op and
stolen goods.

Two junior officers were left at the farm overnight to guard the scene. Two
others arrived Thursday morning and the four went inside a large, metal hut
in the farmyard.

At 9:15 a.m., police say, two members of the Edmonton RCMP auto-theft unit
arrived at the farm. As they stepped from their police car, they heard
gunshots inside the hut. One officer returned fire, and they retreated to
the road and called for backup.

More than four hours later, when an RCMP tactical team stormed the Quonset
hut, they found the dead bodies of the four officers and the gunman.

Roszko killed the four men with what police called a "rapid-fire,
high-powered rifle."

Cpl. Wayne Oakes said the soft body armour the officers wore wasn't heavy
enough to stop a high-calibre bullet.

The massive investigation now centres on several key questions, Oakes said.

Police are waiting for autopsy results and forensics tests to tell them how
Roszko and the officers died.

A key question, Oakes said, is: "How did (Roszko) get back on to the
property." Roszko's family -- he had three sisters, four brothers and one
step-brother -- was not a close one. Members split after James was
convicted of sexual assault. One side supported the man the family called
Jimmy, the other side wanted nothing to do with him.

Roszko's estranged sister, Marion, and brother-in-law, Tim White, dropped
off flowers for the slain officers yesterday at the Mayerthorpe RCMP station.

"Our greatest regrets go out to the cops and their families," Tim White
said. "It's brutal. They are all owed an apology."

When Roszko's estranged younger brother, Douglas, heard about Thursday's
shooting, he was angry at the RCMP, said George Roszko.

While Douglas, a logger in nearby Whitecourt, hated some things about his
brother, James, he also idolized him. After he heard his brother was dead,
Douglas told his common-law wife, Connie, that he was going to Mayerthorpe
to take action, George Roszko said.

Douglas got in his truck and drove down the highway to the crime scene,
outside of Mayerthorpe. They decided to alert police and their brother was
stopped and arrested.

George said James had automatic weapons hidden on his farm.

"The RCMP were out-powered,"he said. Court orders prohibiting James from
holding weapons meant nothing to him. "That ends right at the court desk,"
George Roszko said.

Police officers and former officers say the dangers on the job have
increased over the last two decades. Drugs and the weapons used to protect
them pose a particular threat. In British Columbia, police officers
investigating marijuana grow operations are constantly wary of booby traps.
These include live electrical wires connected to door knobs and missing
stairs on staircases that descend into pitch-black basements. Armed crop
sitters, those paid to guard grow-ops, are also a danger.

The four officers killed Thursday were constables, all young men. Three
were from the Mayerthorpe detachment a few kilometres from Roszko's farm.
The fourth was from the nearby Whitecourt detachment.

Const. Johnston, 34, was a competitive motorcycle racer before he joined
the force. He suffered broken ribs and head injuries in a terrible crash at
Calgary speedway in 1997.

After a lengthy recovery, Johnston joined the RCMP in 2001 and was posted
to Mayerthorpe in April. His twin brother, Lee, is also an RCMP officer.

The brothers were both expert marksmen, having received perfect scores in
their marksmanship trials.

"It was unique for both brothers to get perfect scores," said a family
friend. Their proficiency with guns entitled them to wear Crown Pistols and
Crown Rifles badges on their uniforms.

Const. Schiemann, 25, was from Stony Plain, just outside Edmonton. He
graduated from Concordia College in Edmonton in 2000 and went straight into
RCMP training. His father is a Lutheran minister and president of the
Lutheran Church in the Alberta and British Columbia district. His mother is
a school teacher.

Police work was Schiemann's "passion," said his brother, Mike. "He had no
regrets about doing what he did."

Const. Myrol loved to sing and strum a guitar around campfires with his
family, said cousin Joanne Myrol, an award-winning country music artist.
She once tried coaxing him into a life in the music business, but knew he'd
picked a good path by choosing police work.

"I thought he'd be a perfect (Mountie)," she said. "He was in it for the
right reason. He wanted to help people and wanted to do what he could to
help society."

Const. Gordon was from Edmonton. He completed his training in Regina in
October, 2002, and was posted to the Whitecourt detachment, where he worked
in general policing and highway patrol.

He and his wife were expecting their second child.

Across the country, flags were flown at half-mast, including the flags at
the U.S. Embassy and seven consulates.

Police officers playing in the RCMP Western Hockey Tournament in the
Highlander Arena in Winnipeg lined up at centre ice for a minute of silence
Thursday after learning of the horrific shooting of their comrades.

"Then everyone took their black hockey tape and wrapped it around their
left arms in remembrance," said referee and Winnipeg River detachment Sgt.
Steve Saunders.

U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci, whose term has been marked by his outspoken
criticisms of Canadian military and drug-law policies, also issued a
statement expressing "deepest sympathies and heartfelt prayers" for the
families, colleagues and friends of the slain officers.

Last year, Cellucci warned the government's plan to decriminalize marijuana
would exacerbate congestion and delays at the Canada-U.S. border. Canadian
police officials have also objected to the plan to take marijuana
possession out of the Criminal Code and convert it to a ticketing offence
to be enforced by the provinces.