flames
03-05-2005, 03:20 AM
John Cotter
Canadian Press
Friday, March 04, 2005
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MAYERTHORPE, Alta. (CP) - RCMP were struggling Friday to explain how one man known for years as a violent police-hater with a short fuse and an arsenal of weapons was able to gun down four young Mounties.
James Roszko, 46, was notorious in the town and was feared by waitresses, high school students and community officials for his aggressive behaviour.
RCMP regional Supt. Marty Cheliak had few answers for a grieving community wondering how a police search for stolen property at Roszko's farm could dissolve into a bloody massacre.
"The investigative process is still underway and we can't really comment on that. We don't have the full circumstances to what occurred there," Cheliak said.
"Our officers are well prepared to conduct policing activities in the province of Alberta."
Cheliak would not confirm reports that Roszko had been shot and killed by a sniper or whether any of the slain officers fired their weapons.
He would not say who actually ordered the Mounties to approach a quonset hut on the farm that housed a marijuana grow operation.
Brock Myrol, 29, Lionide Nicholas Johnston, 32, Peter Christopher Schiemann, 25, and Anthony Fitzgerald Orion Gordon, 28, were found dead, along with Roszko, inside the building 130 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
Three of the four grew up in Alberta: Myrol was born in Outlook, Sask., but was raised in Red Deer, as was Gordon who was born in Edmonton. Johnston was from Lac la Biche. Schiemann was from Petrolia, Ont.
Roszko was well-known to police as a violent menace who laid spike belts on his property to discourage trespassers.
Hundreds of kilometres away Friday, Myrol's mother publicly lashed out at Roszko and the "liberal-minded" system that allowed him to flourish.
"The man who murdered our son and brother was a person who was deeply disturbed and ill," said Colleen Myrol on behalf of the dead officer's family.
She demanded Prime Minister Paul Martin toughen laws to curb violence and drug abuse and to give police more power to ensure public safety.
"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," she said from Red Deer.
In Ottawa, Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan said the deaths of the Mounties was a stark reminder that marijuana production is a scourge that judges should combat with serious sentences.
"I would say that all of us - including the judiciary - need to understand what is at stake here," McLellan said. "And I think (Thursday) was a horrible and tragic reminder."
Judges who don't penalize traffickers accordingly should be called to account, she said.
For many of Mayerthorpe's residents, it was a grim day as the initial shock gave way to anger and an aching need to mark the enormity of their loss.
Canadian Press
Friday, March 04, 2005
-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
MAYERTHORPE, Alta. (CP) - RCMP were struggling Friday to explain how one man known for years as a violent police-hater with a short fuse and an arsenal of weapons was able to gun down four young Mounties.
James Roszko, 46, was notorious in the town and was feared by waitresses, high school students and community officials for his aggressive behaviour.
RCMP regional Supt. Marty Cheliak had few answers for a grieving community wondering how a police search for stolen property at Roszko's farm could dissolve into a bloody massacre.
"The investigative process is still underway and we can't really comment on that. We don't have the full circumstances to what occurred there," Cheliak said.
"Our officers are well prepared to conduct policing activities in the province of Alberta."
Cheliak would not confirm reports that Roszko had been shot and killed by a sniper or whether any of the slain officers fired their weapons.
He would not say who actually ordered the Mounties to approach a quonset hut on the farm that housed a marijuana grow operation.
Brock Myrol, 29, Lionide Nicholas Johnston, 32, Peter Christopher Schiemann, 25, and Anthony Fitzgerald Orion Gordon, 28, were found dead, along with Roszko, inside the building 130 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
Three of the four grew up in Alberta: Myrol was born in Outlook, Sask., but was raised in Red Deer, as was Gordon who was born in Edmonton. Johnston was from Lac la Biche. Schiemann was from Petrolia, Ont.
Roszko was well-known to police as a violent menace who laid spike belts on his property to discourage trespassers.
Hundreds of kilometres away Friday, Myrol's mother publicly lashed out at Roszko and the "liberal-minded" system that allowed him to flourish.
"The man who murdered our son and brother was a person who was deeply disturbed and ill," said Colleen Myrol on behalf of the dead officer's family.
She demanded Prime Minister Paul Martin toughen laws to curb violence and drug abuse and to give police more power to ensure public safety.
"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," she said from Red Deer.
In Ottawa, Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan said the deaths of the Mounties was a stark reminder that marijuana production is a scourge that judges should combat with serious sentences.
"I would say that all of us - including the judiciary - need to understand what is at stake here," McLellan said. "And I think (Thursday) was a horrible and tragic reminder."
Judges who don't penalize traffickers accordingly should be called to account, she said.
For many of Mayerthorpe's residents, it was a grim day as the initial shock gave way to anger and an aching need to mark the enormity of their loss.