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strange_blaze

Four Mounties dead, report says

03/03/05
canada.com

ROCHFORT BRIDGE, Alta. -- Canadian Press is reporting that four Alberta RCMP officers were killed in a raid Thursday on a northwestern Alberta marijuana grow operation. CP is quoting a government source.

There had been confusion all day about the fate of the officers after the first reports that shots were fired during the raid near Rochfort Bridge, a village of about 60 people.

Sgt. Rick Oncescu of the Calgary RCMP said two SWAT teams were called into the area and Mounties from surrounding jurisdictions also responded.
Maj. Scott Lundy, a spokesman for Edmonton Garrison, said the military received a request just after 12:30 p.m. from the RCMP for assistance. He said two armoured personnel carriers, an ambulance and about 20 military personnel were dispatched from the military base shortly after that.

About two hours later, police told the military their help was no longer needed. “I have confirmed we have been stood down,” he said.

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein would not comment on the specifics, but said he was surprised and saddened that such a tragedy would occur in the quiet farming community, about 130 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

“I would hope that it would serve as a lesson for all those who want to enter into something illegal not to do so,” he said.

RCMP officers were shot and wounded while conducting a raid on a hydroponic marijuana operation at a farmhouse near Rochfort Bridge, Alta., about 130 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

Cam Bell, a spokesman for the STARS air ambulance based in Calgary, said an emergency team was contacted by police just after 10 a.m. to fly to the scene.

He said a helicopter with two pilots, a nurse and a paramedic were on the ground with police, ambulance and fire crews because RCMP told them it was too dangerous to go in.

© Canadian Press 2005

I was at work today when a co-worker came in and told me about something going down up north. At the time not much details were known except 4 RCMP officers were not answering their radio's after coming onto the scene, and the army was called in. Only around an hour ago more details were released, including that 4 RC's had been killed, and the man that shot the rc's was also shot and killed. What was this guy thinking....
It blows my mind that something like this resulted in the death of 5 people. I mean, what would possess someone to open fire on police, and face murder charges as well as the grow op charges, when it could have been avoided if he would have surrendered (sure, face jail time, but jail time for a grow op, not for killing 4 mounties.)
I wonder what would have been going through this guys head....oh well, guess it doesnt matter now cuz he's dead.

__________________
Swayin to the rhythm of the new world order
Count bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums

 

Buzzby

My understanding is that some Canadian grow-ups are in the hands of organized crime gangs of various foreign origins. Violence is a way of life for these people. The rational thing to do when apprehended is to politely surrender. That's not always part of organized crime's culture.

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evil_genius

Sounds like he was a bit of a tweaker from what's being said on the television reports. I get one local channel for some strange reason (I live nowhere near Edmonton) and the locals on the news portray him as a one man gang who ambushed the cops. "A timebomb waiting to go off"

sabianq

"Ottawa says casual pot users should not end up with a criminal record and last November unveiled draft legislation to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana -- an idea that angered U.S. law enforcement officials."

"The four junior Mounties were guarding a farmhouse, which was believed being used to grow marijuana and store stolen property, when they were ambushed and killed on Thursday by a man with a rifle. The murders took place near the town of Mayerthorpe, about 90 miles (140 km) northwest of Edmonton."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N04182522.htm

"Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan said she would consider tougher penalties for growers in a proposed marijuana decriminalization bill."

I think that if they look at the U.S. that has Very tough penalties on marijuana production, they would have to conclude that tougher penalties dont stop people from growing. it only makes the pot worth more to the dealer and that makes it more deadly to police officers.

"The Liberal Party is preparing to debate a resolution that asserts legalizing pot would curb drug dealers and organized crime. "

I agree with the liberal party.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlates...841370,00.html

At the same time, I think this incident will be another way for the government to demonize weed and lie to the public about its dangers.

lilgrasshoppah

Pure grist for the propaganda mill. The police will seek to blame the plant and the community for the actions of one man.

The truth is, cannabis prohibition makes such deaths inevitable. IT'S THE PROHIBITION, stupid! No prohibition, no cops serving warrants, no terrified, angry homeowners unwilling to go to jail for a mandatory minimum sentence... that means NOBODY GETS SHOT. Blaming cannabis for the deaths of those four cops is like blaming the Jews for the deaths of Waffen SS stormtroops in the Warsaw Ghetto. He was DEFENDING HIMSELF FROM VENAL THIEVES INTENT ON STEALING HIS PROPERTY, HIS FREEDOM AND, YES, HIS VERY LIFE. I do not applaud his decision to meet the cops with force. I weep for the loss of life. I also weep for the insensibility of a system that steadfastly refuses to recognize that these cops died not as a result of cannabis, but as as result of cannabis prohibition.

How many shootouts to Dutch police get involved in over cannabis? Or even closer to home, how many shootouts do Vancouver city police get involved in over cannabis? If you multiply the number of officers killed in the line of duty over cannabis in alberta by the number of officers killed in the line of duty in vancouver over cannabis you will arrive at the number of officers who should be killed (zero).

A war on drugs is exactly that. A war. And the only way to end the violence of war is to end the war.

 

Buzzby

Defense of property is no justification for the use of deadly force. The RCMP was not threatening his life. After murdering the four police officers, the grower killed himself, so he must not have been worrying too much about his continued freedom and existence.

While there are many abuses in The War on Drugs, this was not one of them. It was four cops, doing their jobs correctly, murdered by a grower who must have had serious mental problems. Didn't he know that the Mounties always get their man?

Plainsman1963

While I agree that prohibition creates a climate for these happenings...I will not lay blame solely on that.

These people make the decision to do this. It comes down to the criminal mind and complete lack of respect for life. Doesn't mattter what the illegal activity is, the type of person that would consider this action a viable alternative to the responsibility of his actions is not even close to being on my side of this war.

Yes, there will be those that use this as motivation to continue prohibition. It is sad that this pathetic attempt at a human being gave them the ammunition.

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"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." - Claire Wolfe

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evil_genius

Alright Ive since woken up from my slumber and seen the news. The father of the guy who did this was on TV and he was a seriously disturbed man. Apparently he had a reputation for terrorizing the community and putting some of his neighbours in handcuffs. This is all coming from a fairly right wing network too so its fairly surprising. The main thing that worries me is the relatives of the victims putting out statements to "fight evil" and give the police more power.

It is pretty obvious that this is the results of the actions of one man and not the power of a plant. Hopefully people can see through whatever political spin gets put on this. I guess we'll see what gets more people following the story in the news a crazy man or a grow op.

All in all its a bit worrying

evil_genius

Liberal MP Dan McTeague was just shown on the CBC (2pm pacific time) talking about mandatory minimum sentences for cultivating. Yikes too American sounding for me. Worrying

Airedog

that this is the first grow-op bust where the police have not said how many plants were there? Can't be due to shock over the murders as they are not so shocked that they forgot to mention there was a grow-op.

Could it be that this guy was a true nut job and only growing for personal use? I know it sounds paranoid and all, but the outcry for stronger penalties for grow-ops is already mounting. As someone else noted, a Liberal MP is calling for no decrim or legalisation. If the murderer turns out to have a motive other than his commercial grow, the drug tie-in vanishes and LEO will be faced with having to fall back on the terminally pooched gun registry.

Personally, I feel that no amount of bud is worth a life, let alone 4; those who choose to grow commercially choose the risk of jail as part of the business. Ultimately, LEO protects me and my personal grow-op from rip-off artists and the like. No us and them issue here; we are all US and should mourn the tragedy.

Airedog