Mounties' killer carried 3 guns, RCMP say
By KATHERINE HARDING
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 Updated at 1:50 AM EST
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050321.wxrcmp0322/BNStory/National/
Edmonton â †James Roszko was toting three guns including an assault-style rifle, when he massacred four rookie RCMP officers after they entered his dark, metal farm shed, according to the first detailed police account of the hours leading up to the ambush.
However, RCMP officials admitted yesterday it could take months to figure out exactly how Mr. Roszko was able to sneak back onto his northwest Alberta farm undetected and then shoot the four officers.
"There are many unanswered questions," RCMP Superintendent Marty Cheliak told a news conference about the March 3 killings â †the force's largest loss of life in a violent act in 120 years. Killed in the line of duty were: Peter Schiemann, 25; Leo Johnston, 32; Anthony Gordon, 28; and Brock Myrol, 29.
Mr. Roszko, whom the courts had prohibited from owning firearms since 2000, was wounded by another officer who was on the property at the time of the killings. The 46-year-old then stumbled back into his farm shed and shot himself. According to the officer, Mr. Roszko was carrying a Heckler & Koch .308 semi-fully automatic rifle, had a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol in his waist band and a long barrel firearm slung over his shoulder.
Police would not say whether the Heckler & Koch was set up to fire in a fully automatic, or rapid-fire mode.
"Intense follow-up forensic examination and testing will be required to determine exactly what occurred inside the Quonset [farm shed]," Supt. Cheliak said. While the on-site investigation wrapped up late last week, according to a source, police officers spent days meticulously sifting for evidence by hand on the shed's sand floor.
The slain officers had been investigating and securing Mr. Roszko's property after a bailiff, who was conducting a property seizure of his white 2005 Ford pickup truck on March 2, uncovered a marijuana grow operation of about 280 plants along with stolen auto parts.
Despite several sightings by local residents later that day, Mr. Roszko hadn't been seen by police for 18 hours before the shootings.
Police later recovered his truck at his aunt's house, about 24 kilometres from his Mayerthorpe-area farm, according to a news report.
RCMP officials wouldn't confirm that information yesterday, nor would they say whether a recent media report stating that Mr. Roszko got back onto the property using a white sheet and socks is accurate.
However, Supt. Cheliak said that contrary to several media reports, Constable Schiemann was on duty that morning. But he was not scheduled to be at the farm and he wasn't wearing his uniform or carrying his gun.
Supt. Cheliak said another RCMP officer was scheduled to drive Constable Myrol to the Roszko farm. But at the last minute, the first officer was called back to the office, "so Constable Schiemann volunteered to drive Constable Myrol to the Roszko property."
The other officers were armed with handguns. However, their loaded rifles were in their police vehicles at the time of the shootings.
During yesterday's briefing, RCMP officials went to great lengths to stress that the evening before the killings, senior officers made sure the property was safe for officers to work in and were fully aware of Mr. Roszko's violent history.
"Strategic planning and assessments were conducted involving members who were familiar with Mr. Roszko and the area," Supt. Cheliak said, adding that all the buildings on his property were searched and that police officer safety was discussed.
"The situation was deemed to be within the capabilities of the Mayerthorpe detachment general duty members," he said.
Since the killings, at least one retired RCMP officer has publicly said that the incident was the result of a lack of supervision.
Mr. Roszko had criminal convictions dating back to the 1970s for property offences and for harassing phone calls, but he dodged a string of more serious charges for violent offences through the 1990s.
Between 1992 and 1999, he was charged with a raft of offences including obstruction of justice, impersonating a police officer, pointing a firearm, common assault, aggravated assault and counselling to commit murder. But he was acquitted on all of the charges. In 2000, he served a 21/2-year sentence for sexually assaulting a male.
Former police officers who have worked at the Mayerthorpe detachment have said recently that they went to Mr. Roszko's property several times during the 1990s, trying to retrieve his guns. In 1993, one of his trucks was even stripped down as police unsuccessfully looked for the HK .308 assault rifle.
Most of his guns had been smuggled into Canada illegally from the United States, according to Mr. Roszko's friends. Yesterday, a spokesman for Alberta's Justice Department said it has launched a review of criminal proceedings involving Mr. Roszko.
RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli has scheduled a news conference in Ottawa today to discuss the investigation into the deaths of the constables.
