The Mayerthorpe Incident occurred on March 3, 2005 on the property of James Roszko in Rochfort Bridge, northwest of Edmonton near the town of Mayerthorpe, in the Canadian province of Alberta. With a Heckler & Koch 91, Roszko shot and killed Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constables Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon, Lionide Johnston, and Brock Myrol as the officers were executing a property seizure on the farm. This was the worst one-day loss of life for the RCMP in 100 years.
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The incident
Other officers initially went to the farm to assist bailiffs in trying to repossess a truck but Roszko fled in it. Numerous stolen vehicle parts and a marijuana grow-op were found on the premises. Search warrants were obtained and executed. Constables Gordon and Johnston were providing scene security. Cst. Schiemann arrived to drop off Cst. Myrol. The four officers were ambushed inside a Quonset shed on the farm. Roszko had returned to the property after getting a ride from Shawn Hennessey and Dennis Cheeseman during the night and laid in wait for an opportunity.
After fatally shooting the four officers, Roszko emerged from the shed and fired on two other officers who had just arrived and were preparing to examine the vehicles on the property. The officers were not hit, and returned fire. Roszko, wounded during either the initial exchange of gunfire or during the exchange with the two officers outside, then retreated into the shed.
After losing radio contact with the officers in the shed, RCMP Emergency Response Teams and an armoured vehicle from the Canadian Forces' Edmonton Garrison were called in, and the airspace over the property was closed. The four officers and Roszko were all found fatally shot; it was later determined that Roszko killed all four officers, and then turned his weapon on himself.
One of the deceased officers, Constable Brock Warren Myrol, had graduated a month before from the RCMP Academy, Depot Division. He had been on duty only 17 days.
Aftermath
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A memorial service for the slain officers was held in Edmonton on March 10, 2005 and televised nationally on CBC. Prime Minister Paul Martin and Governor General Adrienne Clarkson both spoke at the service. Many police officers from Canada and the United States were in attendance.
On May 19, 2005, Queen Elizabeth II, attended a ceremony in honour of the slain officers at the RCMP Training Academy in Regina, Saskatchewan.
The CBC program the fifth estate also made a documentary about the incident, which first aired on December 7, 2005. The full documentary can be downloaded from the CBC website.
The incident occurred at the same time as a national political discource on marijuana decriminalization legislation in the Canadian Parliament. Only days before the massacre, the leader of the Marijuana Party endorsed the Liberal Party after the government introduced a bill to decriminalize use and possession of marijuana. In the wake of the tragedy, the Liberals shelved the bill; less than a year later Paul Martin's government was defeated and the Conservative Party, which opposed decriminalization, was elected. The effect of the Mayerthorpe Incident on the legislation debate has been open to public speculation.
The Fallen Four Memorial Society was founded to honour the slain policemen. The group initiated the building of the Fallen Four Memorial Park in Mayerthorpe which opened on July 4, 2008.
James Roszko
James Roszko (1959? - March 3, 2005) was a Canadian man who at the time of the massacre was operating a hydroponic marijuana grow-op outside of Mayerthorpe, Alberta. According to documents obtained by the CBC's the fifth estate in a court case to have the search warrants made public, police seized seven growing marijuana plants, and 88 harvested plants from the residence, plus a further 192 growing marijuana plants along with growing equipment from the quonset. Roszko was also suspected of various property crimes, which were the main thrust of the investigation prior to the shooting. He had a history of violent and sexual offences. At the time of the incident he was prohibited from legally possessing firearms.
Police also found lists containing the names and call signs of RCMP officers from the detachments in Mayerthorpe, Whitecourt and Evansburg, Alberta. The lists also contained the cellular numbers assigned to their vehicles.
Also found were a .308 calibre Heckler & Koch 91 semi-automatic rifle, and a 300 Magnum which had been reported missing by Shawn Hennessey's grandfather, and a 9 mm Beretta. The .308 and the 9 mm were not registered.
Charges are laid in 2007
On July 9, 2007, two men, Shawn Hennessey, 28, and Dennis Cheeseman, 23, were charged as parties to the offences committed by James Roszko. In 2006, Mr. Hennessey denied any links to the crime. The RCMP spent more than $2-million investigating the incident, using between 40 and 200 officers on the case since 2005. The charges were the result of an undercover investigation and the two accused men appeared in court on July 12. [1][2] The murder charges against Mr. Hennessey and Cheeseman are controversial due to the fact that neither man was at the crime scene when the shootings took place. However they could still face murder charges if they transported James Roszko back to his farm. On January 19, 2009 Hennessey and Cheeseman pled guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter. According to an agreed statement of facts, Hennessey and Cheeseman provided James Roszko with a shotgun from Hennessey's grandfather that was not used in the murders, and also gave Roszko a ride back to his farm. Later statements showed that both Hennessey and Cheeseman knew that Roszko was planning on murdering "as many RCMP officers as he could"(not cited) and although they contemplated on calling the police, they decided against it. On January 30, 2009 Hennessey and Cheeseman were sentenced to 15 and 12 years in prison respectively, with credit given for their early guilty plea and for time served. Hennessey will serve approximately 10 years for his role and Cheeseman will serve seven years.
Interestingly, the prosecution claimed that the men "must have known" about Roszko's intentions, while RCMP correspondence months earlier stated that violence against police officers by Roszco was "not anticipated".
In Popular Culture
Corb Lund referenced this incident in a verse of the title track to his album Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!
On February 10, 2008 CTV aired a feature length made-for-TV movie called "Mayerthorpe".[3].
See also
Notes
- ^ The Globe and Mail - 2 face murder charges over Mayerthorpe
- ^ CBC News - 2 Albertans charged in 2005 ambush of Mounties
- ^ CTV Movie
External links
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Wikinews has related news: RCMP memorial for fallen Alberta mounties delayed |
- CBC News: Records of RCMP shooter paint chilling picture
- CBC News: Suspect in RCMP killings had history of run-ins with police
- CBC News: Indepth: RCMP
- CBC the fifth estate documentary "A Hail of Bullets"
- Fallen Four Society (memorial group)
- To Serve and Protect: Tragedy at Mayerthorpe at the Internet Movie Database - docudrama about the incident
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