Suspect had violent criminal record
EDMONTON — The man involved in the shooting of two RCMP officers in St. Albert, Alta., had a lengthy violent criminal background that raises questions of how he was even allowed to walk free, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson said at a media conference Sunday evening.
Shawn Rehn, 34, was known to police and had a lifetime ban on owning firearms. Paulson said an investigation into all levels of the criminal justice system is needed after Rehn allegedly shot and seriously wounded two RCMP officers early Saturday morning.
Rehn had a “long, extensive” criminal record, Paulson said.
“We need to have a full understanding of what is an incredibly complex criminal history,” Paulson said. “I like to think that any death is preventable, but we’re going to have to understand how it is that (Rehn) came to be walking among us. We need to come to a fuller understanding.”
Rehn was found dead in a home in Sturgeon County not far from the site of the shooting, hours after Const. David Matthew Wynn and auxiliary Const. Derek Bond were shot inside the Apex Casino in St. Albert, northwest of Edmonton. RCMP said Sunday the shooting occurred within a matter of three to five seconds, and that neither RCMP officer had a chance to defend himself.
Auxiliary Const. Bond was released from hospital Saturday evening after being treated for a gunshot wound to the arm and torso, but Dep. Commissioner Marianne Ryan said Sunday Const. Wynn remains in hospital after being shot in the head at close range. His wife and three children are by his side, police said, but he has not regained consciousness and Ryan said he is not expected to survive.
Dep. Commissioner Marianne Ryan said she was at Const. Wynne’s bedside Saturday and has maintained regular contact with his family since the incident. She said they are appreciative of the public’s outpouring of support.
“I used the short time I had with him to tell him how proud Canadians are to him for his willingness to accept the dangers of the front line in service to his fellow citizens,” she said.
Police have said it didn’t appear Wynn and Bond were expecting trouble when they walked inside the casino after responding to a stolen vehicle complaint.
The suspect fired two shots and police said Wynn didn’t have a chance to fire back. Bond, being an auxiliary constable, wouldn’t have had a gun and normally only carries pepper spray and a baton.
Evidence suggests no one else was involved in the shooting.
The shooting of Wynn touched a personal chord thousands of kilometres away. People in a Nova Scotia community where he once served as a paramedic expressed shock and prayed for his recovery.
“For many years, we worked side by side with him in his former career,” said a Facebook post from the Bridgewater Police Service, on Nova Scotia’s south shore.
“When he made the decision to switch careers and join the RCMP, we supported him.
“Our love and support go out to his family, friends, and colleagues.”
Paula Power, a spokeswoman for St. Albert Public Schools, said Wynn has been a resource officer at Keenooshoyo Elementary School for five years. She said his main duty has been to provide drug education for Grade 6 students, but he was frequently in the school speaking with students and parents, and appears annually in red serge for the Remembrance Day assembly.
Power said counsellors were to be available at the school Monday for students, as well as for teachers and staff.
Wynn is the face of the RCMP for many of the students, who have known him for most of their elementary school years.
“It’s tremendously shocking. It is for the whole community. But when it affects someone with a relationship with a school, it’s different,” Power said.
—With a file from The Canadian Press