YOUNG ALBERTA MOUNTIES MOURNED BY RELATIVES

They were young cops with long careers ahead of them.

One had been in the small RCMP detachment for four years, the other
started just three weeks ago.

Constables Leo Johnston, 33, and Brock Myrol, 27, were shot dead along
with two of their colleagues yesterday at a marijuana grow operation
just outside Rochfort Bridge, Alta.

Both constables, along with a third victim, were part of the 11-member
Mayerthorpe detachment in central Alberta. The fourth slain Mountie
was with the nearby Whitecourt detachment.

Police did not release the names of the officers pending notification
of next of kin, but direct family members confirmed that Constable
Johnston and Constable Myrol were among those killed.

"What do you say when your son has been ambushed?" Constable
Johnston's mother, Grace Johnston, asked in an interview.

Constable Johnston was an ace marksman from Owl River, Alta., who
joined the RCMP with his twin brother, Lee. Last night, his mother
said the news was delivered by police who came to her house.

In another small community in the neighbouring province, Constable
Myrol's grandmother, Frances Myrol, learned of the shootings through a
phone call from one of her sons, the young officer's uncle.

Constable Myrol began work in Mayerthorpe on Feb. 14, just days after
graduating from the RCMP training academy in Regina.

"That was something he wanted right from when he was a little kid,"
she said last night in an interview from her home in Outlook, Sask.
"He certainly was a wonderful young man and so happy and he worked so
hard to get into the RCMP."

Last night, the Myrol family was assembling in Alberta and
Saskatchewan to mourn.

"He was absolutely the most wonderful person in the world; they don't
get better than that," said one grieving relative from Calgary. "It's
wrong when this happens."

Constable Myrol had reason to celebrate both his new career and a new
stage in his life. At Christmas, he became engaged to his girlfriend,
Anjila, who joined him in the community of 1,600.

Born in Outlook and raised in Red Deer, Alta., Constable Myrol told
the Mayerthorpe Freelancer newspaper he decided to become an RCMP
officer three years ago after working as a security guard and
receiving an undergraduate arts degree from Red Deer College.

"I wanted the opportunity to work with people and be able to make a
difference," he said in a piece published Feb. 23. "Over time, I saw
all the good things you could do for people, and I enjoyed that."

Constable Myrol, who had a black belt in karate and enjoyed music,
told the paper he was excited about joining the RCMP and was hopeful
about what he could accomplish.

"Make a positive change in people's lives and serve the community," he
said. "I'm looking forward to it."

Constable Myrol expected to spend five years in the Mayerthorpe
detachment. He said he and his fiancee were enjoying the community.
"It's a change, but a welcome one," he said in the article.

Constable Myrol joined a detachment where police officers play a big
role in the community. Just two weeks ago, three of the local Mounties
were given awards for their work on behalf of a nine-year-old local
boy with cancer.

One of those officers was Constable Johnston, who had his head shaved
to help raise funds.

"We are a close community. These are not just police officers, they're
coaches for our kids, hockey teammates," said Pastor Arnold Lotholz of
the Pentecostal Church in the community and a volunteer with the
disaster services team for the RCMP.

Constable Johnston was a cop who could lay claim to an achievement
that few others could. Last year, he and his brother, who is stationed
in B.C., received their Crown Pistols and Crown Rifles badges,
signifying that they were ace marksmen.

Constable Johnston almost didn't become a police officer. Back in
1997, he cheated death in a motorcycle accident. According to reports,
the then 25-year-old was involved in a "horrifying" crash at Calgary's
Race City Motorsport Park as he was speeding along at 130 kilometres
an hour on the last lap of a national qualifying race. He spent a week
in a coma.

But he recovered and went on to join the Mounties and was posted to
Mayerthorpe in the spring of 2001.

A few years ago, Grace Johnston told a newspaper that she hoped people
would take inspiration from her son's journey from accident victim to
police officer.

"I want people to know that anything is possible. I want the kids,
especially the ones from around here, to know that they can do it if
they really want it," she said.

"This shows that it doesn't matter who you are or where you are from,
anything is possible if you go for it."