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Manhunt under way in Canada after gunman kills three police Manhunt under way in Canada after gunman kills three police
(about 4 hours later)
A gunman has shot dead three Canadian police and injured two more in one of the worst losses of life for the country's national police force in a decade. Canadian police on Thursday mounted a massive hunt for a 24-year-old gunman they suspect shot dead three officers in one of the worst losses of life for the country's national force in a decade.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in New Brunswick said on their Twitter feed that a search was under way for 24-year-old Justin Bourque of Moncton, who was considered armed and dangerous. Police cordoned off a large area in the northwest of Moncton, New Brunswick, and ordered city residents to stay inside as officers searched for a suspect named on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Twitter feed as Justin Bourque of Moncton, who was considered armed and dangerous.
#Codiac #RCMPNB - 3 officers mortally wounded by shooter. 2 officers sustained non life threatning injuries. Shooter still actively sought. Local media in Moncton published a photograph of a man in camouflage clothing and a black headband carrying a rifle.
RCMP spokesman Paul Greene said the two wounded RCMP officers had non-life-threatening injuries. The Horizon Health Network, a provincial health authority, said on its If you live in the marked area stay inside / lock doors. Roads blocked. Traffic disrupted. Avoid area #Codiac #RCMPNB http://t.co/Oqz389LqTl
Twitter feed that two patients were taken to the Moncton hospital with The RCMP have been hunting Bourque after three officers were killed late on Wednesday and two more were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
gunshot wounds. A large blue armoured police truck entered the cordoned off area early on Thursday morning and a helicopter hovered overhead.
The RCMP said people in the Pinehurst subdivision should stay inside and keep their doors locked, while motorists should stay away from the area. A Facebook page purporting to belong to the shooter was filled with posts critical of the police and those who backed gun control.
Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada and the killings have spurred an outpouring of grief on social media. Police told residents not to tweet the locations of officers for fear they could be helping the gunman.
Construction worker Danny Leblanc, 42, said he saw the shooter in the distance on Wednesday Construction worker Danny Leblanc, 42, said he saw the shooter in the distance on Wednesday
evening wearing a camouflage outfit and standing in the middle of the evening wearing a camouflage outfit and standing in the middle of the
street with his gun pointed at police cars. He thought it was an RCMP officer until he heard a burst of automatic gunfire that sent him running into his home, where he remained behind locked doors with his family. street with his gun pointed at police cars.
Sean Gallacher, who lives near the area where police were concentrating He thought it was an RCMP officer until he heard a burst of automatic gunfire that sent him running into his home, where he remained behind locked doors with his family.
their search, said he heard what he now believed were gunshots. "I was downstairs and heard a few bangs," said Gallacher, 35. Resident Will Njoku said at first he thought the shots had been firecrackers but then he heard sirens.
"My neighbour called and said there was a gunman on the loose and they were just down the road and it kind of freaked us out," he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. "I jumped out of my house and started directing traffic away ... I knew people going down there would be in danger."
City officials said there had been no murders in Moncton in all of 2013 and none had been recorded this year until Wednesday.
The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, said in a statement the deaths of the officers would be honoured and remembered.
Four Canadian RCMP officers, known as Mounties, were killed in March 2005 by a gunman on a farm in the province of Alberta. The shootings at Mayerthorpe, a small town, represented the RCMP's worst single-day loss of life in more than 100 years.Four Canadian RCMP officers, known as Mounties, were killed in March 2005 by a gunman on a farm in the province of Alberta. The shootings at Mayerthorpe, a small town, represented the RCMP's worst single-day loss of life in more than 100 years.
The Canadian public safety minister, Steven Blaney, said he was The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
"shocked by the tragedy" and his thoughts and prayers were with RCMP officers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report