Half Mast

The flags in front of our local RCMP headquarters are at half mast in honor of the four officers shot Thursday in Mayerthorpe, Alberta.

We drive through Mayerthorpe whenever we drive out on the Alaska highway. It's small. The four officers killed represent over half of the police force.

From CBC News:

All four officers were shot to death in the small community of Mayerthrope on Thursday in what should have been a routine operation investigating stolen car parts and 20 marijuana plants.

But the situation turned into a tragedy when James Roszko, who had a long history of run-ins with the police and was known as a volatile man who had weapons, ambushed and shot the four constables with a rifle. He then shot himself.

It seems the officers may have been guarding evidence when Roszko returned to ambush them.

Thursday is the day of the national memorial for Const. Peter Schiemann, 25; Const. Anthony Gordon, 28; Const. Lionide (Leo) Johnston, 34; and Const. Brock Myrol, 29.