The commanding officer of the RCMP in New Brunswick says the support the force has received since the shooting deaths of three officers “was crucial in helping us get us through our darkest hours.”
In an emotional letter posted on the RCMP site, Roger Brown recalled seeing children on the streets with signs on their bikes saying, ‘Thank you RCMP,’ the day after the suspect had been caught.
“It was a sense of calm in what had been a far different picture several hours before,” he wrote. “The simple message those children delivered spread throughout the community, across Canada and the world.”
He says “walking in front of the (RCMP’s Codiac) detachment and seeing it transformed into a community memorial to our three fallen members left me overwhelmed. People whom I had never met, some from New Brunswick and others from far away coming up to me and saying thank you and giving me a hug.”
“Every member of the RCMP can tell you a similar story. While it’s usually our job to look after the community, this time the community looked after us.”