Wife of shot Alberta Mountie prepares to say her last goodbyes
Const. David Wynn has been in hospital since he was
gunned down early Saturday morning and was not expected to survive. Wynn’s
partner, also shot, faces long recovery.
The wife of an RCMP officer gravely wounded in a weekend shooting near
Edmonton was tearful as she said the family was saying its 'goodbyes' to her
husband Monday night. Const. David Wynn is not expected to survive his injuries
By: John Cotter
The Canadian Press, Dean
Bennett The Canadian Press,
Published on Mon Jan 19 2015
EDMONTON—The wife of an RCMP officer shot in the head at a
casino north of Edmonton broke down Monday as she spoke of
saying goodbye to her gravely injured husband.
“We’re saying our goodbyes today and then from there, he’ll be
in a better place,” Shelly MacInnis-Wynn said at an evening news
conference.
“Today’s the day we say goodbye to Dave.”
Const. David Wynn has been in hospital since he was
gunned down early Saturday morning and was not expected to
survive.
MacInnis-Wynn thanked the RCMP, the city of St. Albert and
people in Nova Scotia, where Wynn worked as a paramedic before
joining the Mounties.
Wynn’s sister, Dawn Sephton, thanked the medical teams at two
Edmonton hospitals for the care they gave her little brother.
Irene Roy and her children place flowers near the RCMP detachment in St.
Albert, Alta., on Monday. Constable David Wynn was critically wounded in a
shooting at a casino near Edmonton early Saturday.
“As a family I would ask you to continue to support and respect the RCMP and
the phenomenal job that they do in the service of all Canadians,” Sephton
said.
The 42-year-old father of three was one of two officers shot at the Apex
Casino in St. Albert as they investigated a stolen pickup truck.
The other officer, auxiliary Const. Derek Bond, was shot in the arm and
torso and faces a long recovery.
The family’s statement came as court and parole board documents revealed the
violent criminal background of the shooter, who was found dead in a home not
far from the scene.
The documents show that Shawn Rehn, 34, had a long history of assaults,
weapons convictions, break-ins and drug use that stretched back to his
teenage years in the mid-1990s.
“You are a dangerous person who has demonstrated blatant disregard toward
the criminal justice system as well as lack of respect to the public in
general,” the Parole Board of Canada said when it denied Shawn Rehn day
parole in 2006.
“Your crimes are continuous and increasing in seriousness and often resulted
in serious psychological, emotional and financial harm to victims.”
Six years later, before Rehn left jail on statutory release on different
charges, the board said that his “reintegration potential is assessed as
low.”
He was rearrested in July 2013 with a fellow parolee who had convictions for
armed robbery. Police searched Rehn’s car and found a crack pipe, pellet
pistol and knives.
The parole board rebuked Rehn for ignoring bans on having firearms.
“When you are in possession of weapons, the public is at serious risk of
harm from you, as your past offending demonstrates,” wrote the board the
following September.
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson remarked on Rehn’s criminal history,
particularly a series of overlapping firearms bans. Paulson said it may
provoke an examination of the police and justice system that allowed Rehn to
be free.
“I’ve been policing for 30 years and I’ve never seen anything the likes of
this,” Paulson said on the weekend.
When
four Mounties were gunned down by a cop-hating criminal in Mayerthorpe,
Alta., in 2005, the Alberta Crown did a formal review of the shooter’s
prosecution history to determine if anything could have been done better.
That review found that while James Roszko had been charged with more than 40
crimes and been flagged as a potential dangerous offender, he did not meet
the standard for indefinite detention.
A spokesperson with Alberta’s Justice Department declined to comment on the
Rehn case Monday.
The former pipefitter and oilsands worker’s criminal record, made public
Monday by Alberta Justice, details a lengthy list of 57 convictions,
starting in April 1999 when he was ordered jailed for two months for theft
and break and enter.
In the years that followed, when Rehn wasn’t serving time, he was racking up
convictions in Edmonton, Calgary and the smaller communities of Evansburg
and Drumheller.
They were for assault, assault with a weapon, drug possession and possession
of prohibited firearms. He obstructed a peace officer, escaped lawful
custody and drove while disqualified.
He also was convicted for breaking and entering, theft and possession of
stolen property.
Parole Board of Canada documents show Rehn served two federal jail terms as
an adult.
The first was a two-year sentence for possession of stolen property and
driving while disqualified. The second was for three years on charges
including escaping custody and possession of a loaded prohibited weapon.
Collectively, he was sentenced to serve more than 12 years in custody, but
it’s not clear how much of that time he actually spent behind bars.
On the day he died, he was still facing 30 charges for four separate
offences, including fraud, resisting a peace officer, escaping lawful
custody, possessing a prohibited firearm, failing to appear in court,
failing to stop for police, dangerous driving and multiple charges of
breaching bail conditions.
Source
Commentary by the Ottawa Mens Centre
The RCMP have the record of the highest ethical standard of most police
forces in Canada. Their nation wide system has what most other police forces
lack, an internal system of accountability that while not meeting the public's
full expectations is still better than what is offered by local police forces.
With the greatest respect to the families of the officers, there is also a
nationwide problem with a lack of accountability for police officers especially
those in Ontario where there is virtually no accountability.
It's the underbelly of the various police forces who damage the reputations, and
create the risks for every other officer who spends their careers upholding and
protecting the law.
While we all pray and wish the best for the families involved spare a thought
for the victims of the Underbelly of the Police forces like Det. Peter Van Der
Zander #1639, Cst. W.S. Sam (Wayne)#880 Smith, Cst. Wan T. Ngyen #952 of the
Ottawa Police who personally fabricate evidence to NOT charge the most violent
of criminals.
Its the vile child abusing evidence fabricating excriment of police like Det.
Peter Van Der Zander #1639, W.S. Smith and Van T. Ngyen #952 that make them
Canada's most dangerous criminals who in Ontario, unfortunately have immunity
from criminal prosecution.
Before you rush to flag this item, remember, if no one speaks out, the vile
underbelly of the Police in Canada like the Criminal Det. Peter Van Der Zander,
Smith and Ngyen, just to name three, will only be encouraged to further commit
atrocities and terrorize the male victims of unprovoked violence against
children and fathers.
The Ottawa Police have no interest in prosecuting the criminals who work for
them making them one of Canada's largest Criminal Organizations.
Ottawa Mens Centre