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Suspect Arrested in Rampage That Left 3 Canadian Officers Dead
Man Arrested in Rampage That Left 3 Canadian Officers Dead
(about 11 hours later)
OTTAWA — The police arrested a gunman who they believe killed three police officers and wounded two others, capturing the man after a day that saw a Canadian city held under a virtual siege.
OTTAWA — A man believed to have fatally shot three Canadian Mounties and wounded two others, putting a Canadian city under a virtual siege, was arrested early Friday, the police said.
The arrest of Justin Bourque, which the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced through Twitter, occurred early Friday in Moncton, New Brunswick, apparently without incident.
The arrest of the man, Justin Bourque, which the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced via Twitter, took place, apparently without incident, in Moncton, New Brunswick, the city where the shooting occurred.
The arrest came two days after three members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were fatally shot in what many witnesses characterized as an ambush after they responded to an emergency call about a man seen wearing military-style camouflage clothing and carrying two rifles near the woods adjacent to a subdivision.
Mr. Bourque, 24, of Moncton is accused of shooting the Mounties on Wednesday evening in what many witnesses characterized as an ambush after the officers responded to an emergency call about a man seen wearing military-style camouflage clothing and carrying two rifles near the woods adjacent to a subdivision.
For a city of 69,000 where serious crime does not usually get much worse than, say, burglary or assault, the shooting was particularly shocking.
Few details about the arrest were released. One Moncton resident, Michelle Thibodeau, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that Mr. Bourque was arrested in the backyard of her family home. Just before her parents went into their basement, following police orders, they heard Mr. Bourque say, “I’m done,” Ms. Thibodeau told the CBC.
In 2012, the most recent year for which records were available, Moncton had no murders, and there were just six homicides in all of New Brunswick, according to Statistics Canada, a government agency.
The police said Mr. Bourque had no known criminal history. News reports said he had once worked for Walmart. But other details about him remained scarce on Friday. A Facebook account apparently belonging to Mr. Bourque contained some postings expressing sentiments against the police, and others condemning gun laws.
“Never in my darkest dreams did I ever think that we would be facing what we’re facing today in Moncton,” Mayor George LeBlanc told reporters on Thursday. “If this can happen in Moncton, it can happen anywhere.”
There were also several images of guns. A rambling poem posted shortly before the shootings concludes, “I believe my kingdom will come.”
The arrest of Mr. Bourque, 24, of Moncton, swiftly brought a return to normalcy for the city. As the police hunted for him, schools and most stores were closed, offices remained shut, buses were taken off the generally deserted streets, and mail delivery was suspended. In the neighborhood where the shooting occurred Wednesday evening, fearful residents, following police orders, remained in their homes.
As the police searched for the suspect Wednesday and Thursday, most stores in Moncton were closed, offices remained shut, buses were taken off the generally deserted streets, and mail delivery was suspended. In the neighborhood where the shooting occurred, residents remained inside their homes, under police orders.
Mounties from other regions and members of other police forces, backed by helicopters, black armored vehicles and aircraft, streamed into Moncton to join the hunt for the suspect.
Mounties from other regions and members of other police forces, backed by helicopters, black armored vehicles and aircraft, streamed into Moncton to join the hunt for the suspect.
The police released a photograph taken Wednesday evening that showed a man they said was Mr. Bourque carrying two rifles, or possibly a rifle and a shotgun, in the northwest part of the city. The authorities did not say how they identified him.
Before the arrest, Assistant Commissioner Roger Brown, the commander of the mounted police in New Brunswick, said at a news conference that Mr. Bourque had been seen three times since the killings, most recently near a Costco store Thursday morning. But he said the need to protect police officers and the public thwarted attempts to apprehend him.
Few details about the arrest were immediately released. Michelle Thibodeau told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said that Mr. Bourque was arrested in the backyard of her parents’ home. Just before her family went to the basement, following police orders, Ms. Thibodeau said they heard Mr. Bourque say, “I’m done.”
The police said Mr. Bourque had no known criminal history. News reports said that he once worked for Walmart. But other details about him remained scarce on Friday. A Facebook account apparently belonging to Mr. Bourque contained some postings expressing antipolice sentiments, and others condemning gun laws.
There were also several images of guns. A rambling poem posted shortly before the shootings concludes: “I believe my kingdom will come.”
Before the arrest, Assistant Commissioner Roger Brown, the commander of the mounted police in New Brunswick, told a news conference that Mr. Bourque had been seen three times since the killings, most recently near a Costco store Thursday morning. But he said the need to protect police officers and the public thwarted attempts to apprehend him.
Like many top Mountie officials during news media appearances since the shooting, Commissioner Brown appeared on the verge of tears. Although the vast force extends across the country and its units can be involved in wide-ranging investigations, Mounties also perform local police duties in places like Moncton.
Residents in the part of the city that has been locked down by the police have, for the most part, sheltered in basements. The CBC showed a photograph of young children who were placed in an empty bathtub in a windowless room for added protection.
Conrad Gagnon, 53, said by telephone late Thursday afternoon that the gunman had passed his house shortly before he heard gunshots on Wednesday. “He looked like he was meditating or something or like he was stoned,” Mr. Gagnon said. He said the gunman ignored a large number of people, including children, on the street and in a park.
Between the anxiety over the killer’s being at large and the noise of police helicopters, Mr. Gagnon said that he was unable to rest and that he hoped the gunman would be captured soon. “I cannot believe that they cannot find him in such a little place like this,” he said.
Throughout the day on Thursday, hopes were raised that Mr. Bourque had been cornered when heavily armed police officers surrounded a home, and later a commercial building. Both proved to be false leads. Few details about the arrest were immediately released, although several Canadian broadcasters said that it occurred in a park.
The police still have not identified the three dead officers. One of the two wounded officers was released from a hospital on Thursday; the other underwent surgery for wounds that were described as not life-threatening.
The police still have not identified the three dead officers. One of the two wounded officers was released from a hospital on Thursday; the other underwent surgery for wounds that were described as not life-threatening.
