City bonds — to mourn and to heal
MONCTON, N.B.— Every time Marjorie Hicks drives past the trailer park where the alleged cop killer began his rampage, she’s brought back to the night she was trapped in her church while her son, an RCMP officer, risked his life helping with the manhunt.
The 71-year-old was held in the church for more than four hours along with about 40 other people who had been there for meetings. Eventually she and the others were released, but her son remained on the job, risking his life with hundreds of other officers in the search for a heavily armed man.
“It was just so good when he was sent home,” said Hicks. “To hear his voice, it was just wonderful, because we’ve already had one son who was electrocuted and killed (in a workplace accident in 1992) . . . and enough is enough.”
Hicks came back to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Saturday night for advice on how to deal with the grief and trauma that she and thousands of others in Moncton feel after three police officers were shot and killed and two others wounded, sparking a 30-hour search that paralyzed the city of 70,000.
Const. David Ross, 32, Const. Douglas James Larche, 40, and Const. Fabrice Georges Gevaudan, 45, were shot and killed on Wednesday by a heavily-armed suspect who targeted police on a rampage through the city. Two more officers were wounded.
Aregimental funeral will be held for all three officers Tuesday, June 10 at 1 p.m. at the Moncton Coliseum.
As the tense search dragged on late Thursday, keeping residents locked in and terrified, a Dash 8 aircraft on loan from Transport Canada spotted suspect Justin Bourque in the woods, the agency confirmed to the Star Saturday. It is equipped with an MX15 infrared camera capable of spotting body heat from the air.
Bourque, a 24-year-old Moncton man, was apprehended in the wooded area behind Mecca Dr., three streets over from St. Andrew’s. He faces three charges of murder and two charges of attempted murder.
“Moncton has been deeply traumatized by the events that have taken place,” said Martin Kreplin, the church’s minister. Kreplin, along with his wife Eleanor, are both trained in crisis counselling and led a session Saturday night at their church, just blocks from where the killings took place.
“We’ve had some people who have had bullets enter into their homes. We’ve had people observe behaviours that no one should ever have to observe. We’ve had trauma upon trauma,” said Martin.
Pastor David Britton, who runs Water and Wine Assembly of Christians with his wife Marilyn, has been in Moncton for more than 53 years. He recalls the horror that gripped the city in 1974, when two police officers were forced to dig their own graves before they were murdered.
He said that the funerals of the two officers in 1974 were a turning point in the grieving process.
“After the former police killings, people did resume their lives and they will again. But our focus as spiritual leaders is to help them cope with the grief and the shock and the horror about it happening here,” said Britton.
Acts of mourning both small and large have sprung up across Moncton. Signs at businesses have been changed to pay tribute to the RCMP officers killed and thank those who aided in the search. An auto shop is donating $5 from every oil change to the families of the fallen officers. Some residents are chalking messages of support for the RCMP on their driveways. Const. Emile Theriault, an officer in the sex offences unit of the Codiac RCMP detachment, began to grieve his fallen friends by leading the Ride For Dad Saturday along with about a dozen other officers. They were part of the Blue Knights, a law enforce- ment motorcycle club. “It is very important for us to do this,” said Theriault. “The healing process has to start. I lost three good friends.” A 50/50 draw at the event was held to benefit the families of the fallen officers. It netted more than $640, half of which was earmarked for the families of the officers who were killed and the other half won by a local resident. He donated all of his winnings back.
“This is a hurt we have experienced as a community that will linger for years, possibly decades,” said Martin.
Martin and Eleanor’s presentation ran through the signs and indicators of stress and suggested coping mechanisms for both adults and children.
“We need to help (kids) shift some of those pictures in their brain,” said Eleanor. “Tell them to think of the helpers.”