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published 03|05|05
| Four RCMP officers killed investigating suspected marijuana growing operation Gunman with high-powered rifle surprises officers Florence Loyie and Mike Sadava CanWest News Service MAYERTHORPE, Alta. - Four RCMP officers were killed yesterday investigating a suspected marijuana growing operation at a farm near this community about 130 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. One of the slain officers was identified by a family friend as Constable Brock Myrol, 29, of Red Deer. Const. Myrol was on his first posting as a Mountie and had been in Mayerthorpe less than three weeks. The bloody encounter -- the deadliest for the force since the 1880s -- will spark a renewed debate about how best to deal with the massive proliferation of marijuana grow-ops, which the head of RCMP yesterday called a "plague." The four male officers -- three from the Mayerthorpe detachment and one from nearby Whitecourt -- were conducting an investigation at a farmhouse in Rochfort Bridge near Mayerthorpe yesterday morning when shots were fired by a gunman who apparently caught the officers by surprise. The gunman, who was armed with a high-powered rifle, also died at the scene. The officers and the shooter were not immediately identified and the exact causes of death were not revealed yesterday. The prime suspect is the owner of the farm, James Roszko, a 46-year-old with a lengthy criminal record and a reputation as a loner. He was known by neighbours to frequently shoot rifles on his property and occasionally in the direction of people. Mr. Roszko's father, who has not spoken to his son in a decade, called him "a wicked devil" yesterday. "He'd been bad for years. The police knew that," said the man's brother, George. "Man alive, this is horrible ... I just feel terrible for the police." Several people in town said there were rumours of Mr. Roszko hiding weapons on his property. He is also reputed to have put planks with spikes in his driveway. When scrutineers came in before the last provincial election, the spikes blew out their tires. Two of the dead officers were at the farmhouse overnight, guarding the scene in an investigation that also involved stolen property, said RCMP Corporal Wayne Oakes. The other two officers joined them in the morning. Other Mounties who were on the scene heard shots at 10 a.m. Cpl. Oakes said the slain officers were simply guarding the alleged crime scene and had no reason to believe they were in imminent danger. He said they would have been wearing their regular uniforms and bullet-proof vests and been carrying sidearms. He said at least one of the officers at the scene returned fire. RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli paid tribute to the four officers and called grow-ops a "plague" on Canadian society. "Today we recognize with gratitude and respect that four of our own paid the highest price to fight this fight," said a sombre Comm. Zaccardelli. The officers, he said, "went to work not knowing on this day they would be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice." Canada's top Mountie said he did not have many details yet on the raid in Mayerthorpe, but that he was confident that officers would have done "due diligence" and obtained the necessary resources they required for the operation. more |
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