An independent report into the fatal shootings of three RCMP officers in Moncton last year outlines in horrifying detail a chaotic night in which officers scrambled to contain the threat from a gunman who “appeared to be on a mission.â€
On Friday, the RCMP made public an independent review of the incidents of June 4 and 5, 2014, when Justin Bourque stalked the streets of Moncton with loaded weapons, killing three Mounties and injuring two others before being arrested.
Less than an hour after the first 911 call about a suspicious man came in, Constables Dave Ross, Fabrice Gevaudan and Douglas Larche would be dead, Constables Eric Dubois and Darlene Goguen would be wounded, and officers from across Eastern and Central Canada would start pouring into the city to track a heavily armed young man who was targeting police.
According to the report, the evening of June 4 was warm and sunny, and many residents were enjoying the outdoors after several days of rain.
The calm was shattered at 7:18 p.m., when the RCMP’s Operational Communication Centre received its first 911 call with a report of a suspicious male wearing camouflage-style clothing walking down the middle of Pioneer Avenue. The caller reported that the man was carrying two long guns and bullets, and was walking towards nearby woods.
“The first caller stated she did not see his face but he appeared to have something on his mind; he appeared to be on a mission,†the report says.
While calls of a suspicious male carrying a firearm are not uncommon in Moncton, according to the report, three officers were dispatched to the scene at 7:20 p.m.
Officers who were wrapping up a briefing at the force’s Codiac detachment that evening, including Gevaudan, also responded.
Eight officers that comprised the initial response team began establishing a perimeter based on eyewitness reports of the man’s whereabouts and the direction he was seen heading in.
“As numerous members approached with sirens on, the SOC (subject of concern) would have known that police were closing in,†the report says.
(Initial perimeter positions of all officers responding to the call about a suspicious man in Moncton on June 4, 2014 are seen in this map. The gunman’s path is the red line.)
Officers who proceeded on foot along Bromfield Court were all within 100 metres of the suspect, but were struggling to “get a visual,†and were repeatedly asking over the radio when a police tracking dog would be arriving at the scene.
Meanwhile, Gevaudan, with his pistol drawn, moved to the backyard of 15 Bromfield Court and took partial cover behind some trees.
In his statement to police following his arrest, Bourque says he heard someone yell “hey,†and he quickly turned and fired three shots.
Gevaudan ran northeast, shouting “he’s shooting at me, he’s shooting at me,†into his radio. Bourque fired two more shots at Gevaudan, hitting him in the side of the torso. His wounds “were almost instantly fatal,†the report says.
Gevaudan managed to run behind 19 Bromfield Court, where he collapsed. The time was 7:47 p.m. At that time, the other officers at the scene were unaware that Gevaudan had been shot.
Const. Peter MacLean would soon find Gevaudan lying face down beside 19 Bromfield. He removed Gevaudan’s vest and applied pressure to his wounds before other officers helped move Gevaudan to the garage.
‘Got a visual’
As officers repositioned themselves after those first shots were fired, Const. Dave Ross was rapidly approaching 15 Bromfield Court in his police car. The report notes that he may not have had a strong grasp of what was happening at the scene, including that Gevaudan had been shot.
As Ross turned onto Mailhot Avenue he was instructed to turn around. As he did so, he spotted the suspect and radioed that he “got a visual, will be on a takedown in a second.â€
Ross sped towards the gunman with lights and sirens on. He drew his gun as he drove and fired two shots through his car’s windshield. The gunman responded with six shots. Ross was hit in the thumb of his shooting hand, his head and his left shoulder area.
“The head wound killed him instantly,†the report says. The time was 7:49 p.m.
“The time between the murders of Cst. Gevaudan and Cst. Ross was just two minutes.â€
Another constable, Eric White, arrived at Ross’ car and took cover behind the vehicle. He smashed the passenger side glass to get inside, where he saw Ross slumped over with visible head wounds.
White dragged Ross’s body to a nearby fenced area and realized he was dead.
A call came over the radio asking whether anyone was injured. White responded: “Ross is down, Ross is down.â€
Around this time, MacLean got on the radio and yelled: “Get ERT….call ERT, we need everything we’ve got!â€
‘Ample opportunity to shoot multiple civilians’
Const. Douglas Larche, a member of the force’s Major Crimes Unit, had been working in plainclothes on an unrelated investigation when the first calls came in.
Larche returned to the Codiac detachment to get a shotgun before responding to the scene to provide back-up.
Larche drove to the intersection of Mailhot Avenue and Isington Street and radioed that he would be on foot armed with a shotgun.
“Cst. Larche did not mention seeing the gunman,†the report says. However, a civilian witness had reported seeing the gunman walking on foot toward Larche’s position. When he spotted Larche, the suspect moved into some trees beside 71 Isington St.
“When he recognized Larche was a police officer because he was wearing soft body armour (SBA), he fired four rounds at him from the concealed position within the trees at the west side of the house,†the report says.
“Larche was wounded by rifle rounds passing through his vehicle and dropped to the ground.â€
Larche somehow found the strength to get back to his feet and fire his weapon. He was then killed with a shot to the head.
The time was 8:07 p.m.
After Larche was shot, the gunman was seen fleeing into the woods behind Isington, the last time he would be seen for several hours.
(A map depicts the lock down area following the shootings in Moncton on June 4, 2014. The red lines depict shooter Justin Bourque’s known movements and the red circle ‘B’ is his arrest location.)
Officers from across the region were meanwhile arriving in Moncton to help track the gunman. After several false reports of sightings in the area, he was arrested late in the evening of June 5.
Bourque pleaded guilty in August to three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. In October, he was sentenced to serve 75 years in prison before he will be eligible for parole.
