A little info on two of the mounties:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050304.wxyoungoff0304/BNStory/Front By PETTI FONG and JILL MAHONEY AND COLIN FREEZE
Friday, March 4, 2005 Updated at 2:00 AM EST
From Friday's Globe and Mail
They were young cops with long careers ahead of them.
One had been in the small Alberta RCMP detachment for four years, the other started just three weeks ago.
Constables Leo Johnston, 33, and Brock Myrol, 27, were considered junior officers when they entered a building just outside Rochfort Bridge to investigate a marijuana grow operation.
In a burst of violence, the two young men and two of their colleagues were shot dead yesterday in the worst RCMP killings in a century.
Both constables, along with a third officer, were part of the 11-member Mayerthorpe detachment in central Alberta. The fourth slain Mountie was with the nearby Whitecourt detachment.
Police did not release the names of the officers pending notification of next of kin, but direct family members confirmed that Constable Johnston and Constable Myrol were among those killed.
"What do you say when your son has been ambushed?" Constable Johnston's mother, Grace Johnston, asked in an interview.
Constable Johnston was an ace marksman from Owl River, Alta., who joined the RCMP with his twin brother, Lee.
Last night, his mother simply said word of her son's death came from police, who came to her house in her tiny community.
In another small community in the neighbouring province, Constable Myrol's grandmother, Frances Myrol, learned of the shootings through a phone call from one of her sons, the young officer's uncle.
Constable Myrol began work in Mayerthorpe on Feb. 14, just days after graduating from the RCMP training academy in Regina.
"That was something he wanted right from when he was a little kid," she said last night in an interview from her home in Outlook, Sask. "He certainly was a wonderful young man and so happy and he worked so hard to get into the RCMP."
Last night, the Myrol family was assembling in Alberta and Saskatchewan to mourn.
"He was absolutely the most wonderful person in the world; they don't get better than that," said one grieving relative from Calgary. "It's wrong when this happens."
Constable Myrol had reason to celebrate both his new career and a new stage in his life. At Christmas, he became engaged to his girlfriend, Anjila, who joined him in the community of 1,600.
Born in Outlook and raised in Red Deer, Alta., Constable Myrol told the Mayerthorpe Freelancer newspaper he decided to become an RCMP officer three years ago after working as a security guard and receiving an undergraduate arts degree from Red Deer College.
"I wanted the opportunity to work with people and be able to make a difference," he said in a piece published Feb. 23. "Over time, I saw all the good things you could do for people, and I enjoyed that."
Constable Myrol, who had a black belt in karate and enjoyed music, told the paper he was excited about joining the RCMP and was hopeful about what he could accomplish.
"Make a positive change in people's lives and serve the community," he said. "I'm looking forward to it."
Constable Myrol expected to spend five years in the Mayerthorpe detachment. He said he and his fiancée were enjoying the community. "It's a change, but a welcome one," he said in the article.
Constable Myrol joined a detachment where police officers play a big role in the community. Just two weeks ago, three of the local Mounties were given awards for their work on behalf of a nine-year-old local boy with cancer.
One of those officers was Constable Johnston, who had his head shaved to help raise funds.
"We are a close community. These are not just police officers, they're coaches for our kids, hockey teammates," said Pastor Arnold Lotholz of the Pentecostal Church in the community and a volunteer with the disaster services team for the RCMP.
Constable Johnston was a cop who could lay claim to an achievement that few others could. Last year, he and his brother, who is stationed in B.C., received their Crown Pistols and Crown Rifles badges, signifying that they were ace marksmen.
Constable Johnston almost didn't become a police officer. Back in 1997, he cheated death in a motorcycle accident. According to reports, the then 25-year-old was involved in a "horrifying" crash at Calgary's Race City Motorsport Park as he was speeding along at 130 kilometres an hour on the last lap of a national qualifying race. He spent a week in a coma, with several serious injuries.
But he recovered and went on to join the Mounties and was posted to Mayerthorpe in the spring of 2001.
A few years ago, Grace Johnston told a newspaper that she hoped people would take inspiration from her son's journey from accident victim to police officer.
"I want people to know that anything is possible. I want the kids, especially the ones from around here, to know that they can do it if they really want it," she said.
"This shows that it doesn't matter who you are or where you are from, anything is possible if you go for it.''
