Hundreds attend visitation for slain constables
FREDERICTON — Hundreds of mourners lined up in downtown Fredericton on Thursday for an emotional public visitation for two city police constables killed in the line of duty.
Constables Robb Costello and Sara Burns were gunned down at an apartment complex on Fredericton’s north side last Friday, in a shooting that also claimed the lives of civilians Bobbie Lee Wright and Donnie Robichaud.
Inside a dimly lit ballroom at the Fredericton Convention Centre, the families of Costello and Burns stood near large framed photographs of the fallen officers as a steady stream of visitors paid their respects to the grieving relatives.
Two large projectors on either side of the room played slide shows with pictures of the officers at different stages of their lives, from what appeared to be a high school graduation and prom night to cradling a newborn baby and apple-picking.
Many people left the solemn ceremony in tears, struggling to cope with the aftermath of the violent shooting that has gripped the community for the last week.
“There’s some young families up there that lost a loved one,” Supt. Sheldon Currie of Corrections New Brunswick said.
“It’s really important to be here today to support the families.”
Sophie-Anne Lalonde, a teacher in Fredericton, said she taught French immersion to Burns’s youngest son.
“It’s definitely tough knowing that he’s going through that — that all of the children have lost a parent. It’s devastating,” she said.
David Hall, a retired Mountie who served with the RCMP for 36 years, said the fallen officers gave the ultimate sacrifice.
“We’re here to serve and protect the public, and we put our lives on the line every time we put on a uniform,” he said.
The Burns family issued a public statement Wednesday saying “we have heard one common theme since the passing of Sara and Robb.”
Burns’s husband, Steven Burns, said people have repeatedly told the family: “They were two of the most positive people anyone had ever met.”
An obituary said the 43-yearold Burns fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a police officer three years ago, after more than 14 years as a stay-athome mom of three boys.
“Not a day would go by when she didn’t say aloud, for everyone to hear, ‘I love my job,’ ” the obituary published on the McAdam’s Funeral Home and Crematorium website said.
An obituary for Costello said he loved being a police officer, and though he spent time in specialized units, he eagerly went back to patrol, which the obituary published on the Bishop’s Funeral Home website called “his true love.”
On Saturday, thousands of police officers and first responders from across the country are expected to attend a regimental funeral for the two officers.
Matthew Vincent Raymond, 48, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder. He is set to appear in court on Aug. 27.