Canada shooting suspect arrested

Canada shooting suspect arrested

Man was wanted in connection with deaths of three Royal Canadian Mounted Police, wounding of two others
June 6, 2014 2:12AM ET


The man suspected in the shooting deaths of three Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the wounding of two others in a rare case of gun violence in eastern Canada was arrested early Friday police said.

Justin Bourque was arrested at around 12:30 a.m., said Paul Greene, a spokesman with the RCMP. Authorities had named the 24-year-old Bourque as their suspect after the shootings Wednesday evening in the northwest area of Moncton, a city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

The shootings marked the deadliest attack on the Mounties' ranks in nearly a decade.

Much of this normally quiet Canadian city of about 60,400 people was on lockdown prior to the arrest, with frightened residents huddled in their homes as Mounties scoured the eerily quiet streets in search of the man suspected of killing three of their own.

A motive for the shootings was not known, and neighbors of the suspect described a withdrawn man who collected guns and was an avid hunter of birds, deer and moose.

"He never missed a season," said Kerry Fitzpatrick, who lives half a block away from Bourque and was at home when he heard the sound gunfire.

Bourque, who was armed with high-powered long firearms, was spotted three times Thursday but still managed to elude the massive manhunt that all but shut down the city about 180 miles east of the Maine border.

Police used air support, tactical teams and canine units. Several hundred officers from New Brunswick and elsewhere from across Canada were involved.

Bourque was wearing military camouflage and carrying two rifles in a picture released by police on Twitter.

Police still have not released the identities of the three officers who were killed Wednesday night while responding to a call about an armed man. Two other officers, whose names also were not released, were wounded.

Commanding Officer Roger Brown said the two wounded officers underwent surgery for non-life-threatening injuries Thursday and he met with their families. One was later released from hospital. Police said they were unsure when the released officer would return to the job.

It was the deadliest attack on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police since four officers were killed by a gunman on a farm in the western Canadian province of Alberta in 2005. That attack remains the deadliest on Canadian police officers in 120 years.

The Associated Press

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/6/6/canada-shooting-suspectarrested.html