SUMMERSIDE – As police and law enforcement officers across Canada watch tragedies like the recent Fredericton shooting, it drives home the message of how dangerous the job is.
Like Summerside, Fredericton is a tightknit community and so is the police force community in the Maritimes, said Corporal Jason Blacquiere, of the Summerside Police Service.
“From the time that incident began to unfold, you feel like you’re on pins and needles as you wait and watch what is happening.
“You feel terrible when you learn civilians or officers have died. [In Fredericton] there are four families going through this grieving process now.”
On the morning of Aug. 10 Fredericton Police released a statement alerting the public of a shooting in the Main Street area that claimed the life of two civilians and two police officers, Donald Robichaud, Bobbie Lee Wright and Constables Sara Burns and Robb Costello. A suspect has been identified and charged with four counts of first-degree murder.
“On the day of the shooting and as we watched it go on, it was quiet at the station. There were no jokes or laughter among colleagues. It was a down day,” said Blacquiere describing the atmosphere at the Summerside police headquarters.
Blacquiere has been a police officer for about 20 years.
“It hits really close to home because we’re all vulnerable to these situations. Thankfully we don’t have them too much in this area, but when it does happen, it really drives it home.”
Blacquiere says a fellow Summerside Police officer knew Const. Costello.
“He had been at a drug recognition training and had trained with Const. Costello. I didn’t know them personally, but some of our other members did.”
For many, the recent shooting brought back memories of past events like the 2014 lone gunman who killed three RCMP officers during his rampage in Moncton.
“The tragic incident in Fredericton last Friday stuck me very hard. My heart aches for the police officers, civilians killed, and all their families. I remember very vividly, the shooting in Alberta, that claimed the lives of four RCMP officers, then the Moncton tragedy four years ago,” said former Summerside Police Deputy Chief David Griffin.
Griffin, who says policing was his passion, retired from the force in 2011 after serving 40 years with the Summerside service.
“I was a young constable, in the 1970s, when two Moncton City Police officers were captured and made to dig their own graves. I also remember Const. Emmanuel Aucoin, who was shot during a check stop in New Brunswick. There was also the RCMP officer from Summerside who was shot and killed during a domestic. Shootings where police officers are ambushed, go right to the heart of moral fabric… Police officers and all front-line responders have a difficult task in today's world.”
He added, “When tragedies such as this strike, every active police officer, including the ones in retirement, have a deep profound sadness.”
@JPMillicentMcK
