Four Canadian police killed in marijuana raid

TORONTO — Canadians were stunned Friday by the deadliest attack on police officers in 120 years, the slayings of four Mounties while they were investigating an illegal marijuana farm in western Canada.

"Canadians are shocked by this brutality and join me in condemning the violent acts that brought about these deaths," Prime Minister Paul Martin said. He has called for a moment of silence before opening his Liberal party's annual conference later Friday.

The four Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers had been investigating a farm near the village of Rochfort Bridge in northwestern Alberta when they were shot, RCMP spokesman Cpl. Wayne Oakes said. The four and the suspected gunman were found in a Quonset hut late Thursday, Oakes said.

A government source told The Canadian Press the suspect killed himself after shooting the officers. State-run CBC-TV identified the gunman as 46-year-old James Roszko and said he had a long rap sheet, including the use of illegal firearms and sexual assault.

"It's my sad duty to inform you that four members of the RCMP were killed today in the line of duty — four brave, young members," said Bill Sweeney, commanding officer of the Mounties in Alberta.

"The loss of four police officers is unprecedented in recent history," Sweeney said. "I'm told you have to go back to about 1885 in the RCMP history during the Northwest Rebellion to have a loss of this magnitude."

The Northwest Rebellion was an unsuccessful attempt by indigenous rebels to establish an independent nation in the northwestern frontier.

One of the four officers killed Thursday was a young constable who had been on the job for only two weeks, Canadian Press reported. Another was a 33-year-old ace marksman who entered the service with his twin brother.

Police have not officially released the names of the officers but family members confirmed that 29-year-old rookie Constables Brock Myrol and Leo Johnston were among the dead.

David Myrol, an Edmonton lawyer, said his cousin Brock was part of a close-knit family, which is devastated by his death.

"We'll be asking questions about what happened," he told the National Post newspaper. "There's no doubt."

The officers were armed only with handguns. Some have asked why the officers didn't have better backup and how all four could have been killed by a single gunman.