Constable Wynn’s Injuries Believed Unsurvivable
Prince George, B.C. – RCMP officials say they do not expect a gravely wounded member of the St. Albert detachment to survive.
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson, the Commanding Officer of K Division Deputy Commissioner Marianne Ryan and Assistant Commissioner Marlin Degrand provided an update at a media conference at K Division Headquarters in Edmonton late Sunday afternoon.
42-year-old Constable David Wynn, a six-year veteran of the force and father of three children, was shot in the head at close range and gravely wounded inside a casino in St. Albert at approximately 3 a.m. Mountain Time Saturday. Deputy Commissioner Ryan says Constable Wynn has not regained consciousness, his wife and children are with him and he is not expected to recover from his injuries. Ryan did not want to confirm reports that the constable has been on life support since his arrival at hospital on Saturday.
Constable Wynn, a former Nova Scotia paramedic, and Auxiliary Constable, 49-year-old Derek Bond, had entered the casino after recognizing a stolen vehicle in the parking lot outside. After going into the building to investigate Bond was shot first in the arm and torso and then Wynn was shot in the head. Bond was listed in serious condition but was released from hospital later on Saturday. Ryan says the gunshot he suffered narrowly missed vital organs.
Following a manhunt which involved scores of police officers, numerous roadblocks and a search by air, the suspect in the shootings, 34-year-old Edmonton-area resident Shawn Maxwell Rehn, was tracked to an unoccupied house in a rural area east of St. Albert. When officers entered, they found Rehn dead, killed apparently by his own hand. Assistant Commissioner Marlin Degrand says police did not fire a shot at that location. As well, he says Constable Wynn did not fire his weapon at the casino. Auxiliary Constable Bond did not carry a firearm as is normal practice, but did have a baton and pepper spray.
Degrand says the gunman, Rehn, had an extensive criminal record dating back to 2002 and currently had numerous outstanding charges pending in several jurisdictions. An autopsy will be performed on his body on Monday to determine the cause of his death.
Commissioner Paulson says he has a feeling “of intense sorrow and sadness at what has occurred. I must tell you that I am very, very sad at how this has turned out. I send my condolences to the families of the officers who were hurt and to those officers who responded.”
Commissioner Paulson expressed extreme incredulity at the fact Rehn was walking about freely in the community. “We will have to fully examine how this person was able to walk amongst us with the criminal record he had.” The Commissioner says “there will be an in-depth analysis of how this individual came to be free.”
234 members of the RCMP and its predecessor, the North West Mounted Police, have died in the line of duty. 78 have been shot and killed while on duty.
As Constable David Wynn is not expected to survive, once again in what is becoming an all-too-common occurrence, police officers from across North America will gather to solemnly honour a person who was shot and killed while working in the same profession they go to work in each day.
Comments
They are going to spend money on a autopsy on the killer. …dig a hole dump the piece of shit in it and bury him. ..who cares how he died. …I so feel for these brave officers and their families
Keep letting these losers out of jail and this is what you get.
Disgusting that this lousy excuse for a human also took the life of a father-of-three, productive citizen. Hope this criminal rots in hell.
Condolences to the families and I wish Mr. Bond a speedy and full recovery.
Tell us again how someone like this gunman just needed a hug and a bit of rehab instead of rotting in jail.
Most judges would love to throw certain people in jail and toss the key, but parliament has prescribed sentencing limits. The parole board, always under pressure to let out whoever they can, because the jails are full, release the best of the worst. Sometimes, that person is worse than they thought, because they are human, they will make mistakes, especially judging what a sociopath human might do when released.
Want to solve this problem. First, write your MP and ask him to raise your taxes to build more prisons. Next, ask him to build a gulag prison system (cost per inmate about $10,000 a year, vs current $100,000, much like Mexico, and use it for the unredeemable, change sentencing laws so judges can throw reprobate people in jail for life, as in, their whole life.
Then, watch the Supreme Court of Canada strike down all of it as unconstitutional.
Or, write your MP and ask him to raise your taxes to put more money into mental health. The problem with the mentally ill, is they need medication, which they often can’t/won’t take when they live on the street, and if you incarcerate them and make them take their meds, people complain about the crappy treatment they get in the mental health facility – though from what I’ve witnessed in extended care homes, our seniors don’t get much better. And then, very likely, the SOC will strike down the incarceration as unconstitutional.
I fear, the police, because of the many shooting investigations, are actually getting a little trigger shy, and are keeping their weapons holstered, when they should be drawn, because they fear the massive backlash that occurs every time there is a shooting. And this isn’t good. If a police officer goes down, whoever shot/knifed/hit him with a bat, now has access to a police car, another weapon, and no one between him and us. There’s a reason they call it the thin blue line between civilization and anarchy.
All I can hope is that our government adequately provides for this man’s family, surely we can do at least that much?
A better way to eliminate overcrowding in the prison system would be to reform our ridiculous drug laws. Put an end to the War on Drugs and we’ll have plenty of space for real criminals.
billposer – the war on drugs is an industry that all parties involved benefit – ironically, including the police. You think the government doesn’t tax drug profits. Absolutely they do. Money laundering often involves – losing 50% at the casino and declaring the other 50% left over as legitimate winnings, owning a business and flushing drug cash through as sales, and paying the taxes on the profits, in fact, almost every method of money laundering involves paying taxes, to legitimize illegitimate income. And often more taxes, than had it been a legitimate business to start with. And face it, judges, prisons, courts, they all owe their living to the drug trade. Get rid of the drug trade, and a ton of social problems disappear. In fact, I’d bet we could supply every drug addict in the province with free heroin, at a fraction of what we pay to keep it illegal.
Too many influential people need the drug trade for their living. Really it’s no different than big oil funding political parties to do what’s right for them, rather than what’s right for us all. And in it all, real people suffer and die.
billposer is right stop throwing non-violent people into jail, leave room for violent offenders, get them off our streets!
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