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Posted by: kwflatbed



Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Constable Christopher John Worden

The murder of an RCMP constable on Saturday underlines the courage and commitment shown by Canada's officers every day, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.
Const. Christopher John Worden, 30, of Ottawa was shot to death while responding to a call for police assistance in the town of Hay River, N.W.T.
In a statement released Saturday evening, Harper said Worden lost his life to "a senseless act of violence."
"Constable Christopher John Worden died in the line of duty, doing what he loved, serving his country in the uniform of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police."
The Prime Minister said the residents of Hay River and his colleagues will miss the officer, who showed true courage and dedication.
RCMP officers from the Northwest Territories and Alberta continued to investigate the crime scene and search for Worden's killer Saturday.
Sgt. Larry O'Brien told CTV Newsnet that Worden was dispatched to the complaint at about 5 a.m. Saturday.
"Shortly thereafter, radio contact with him was lost. Additional members attended, found Const. Worden at the scene where he was transported to the hospital from there. At that time, he was pronounced dead," he said.
Worden joined the Mounties in 2002 and had spent most of his career in the N.W.T. O'Brien told APTN News he "started in Yellowknife, then served in Wha Ti, before being transferred to Hay River."
Worden's wife, Jody, and infant daughter live in Hay River.
He was well respected and well known among the 200 members of the RCMP's G Division in the Northwest Territories, O'Brien said.
"Chris was known by virtually everybody and it's a tough day for members of G Division," he said.
Premier Joe Handley expressed his condolences for the loss in a letter released Saturday afternoon.
"I am shocked and saddened to learn of the death of Const. Christopher Worden who gave his life while going to the assistance of others. I offer my sincere sympathies to Const. Worden's family and friends,'' he said.
"It is tragic incidents like the one in Hay River this morning that reminds us of the tremendous debt we owe the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for their continued bravery and selflessness in the pursuit of our safety and protection.''
O'Brien said they currently had no information on the type of complaint he was responding to, but that he responded alone.
"Depending on what the nature of the complaint was, it is quite common for members to attend on their own - especially in the north where we have smaller detachments," he said.
"At this time, we have not made any arrests."
Areas around Hay River have been cordoned off while RCMP questioned residents.
"A policeman has been shot but I don't know any more," a woman who didn't wish to be identified told The Canadian Press. "It is a real shocker."
Hay River is located on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, 400 kilometres south of Yellowknife.
Residents of Hay River have been bringing flowers to the RCMP detachment since word of the officer's death.
RCMP officers located in Hay River were relieved by officers from nearby detachments as they mourned the loss of their friend and colleague.
"We all know the risks that our members face daily," said RCMP Commissioner William Elliot. "Nothing can prepare us for the shock of losing a member of our RCMP family in this way."
Chief Supt. Tom Middleton, commanding officer of G Division, travelled from Yellowknife to Hay River to help staff.

Story From: CTV.ca

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Neighbors question response time after Mountie fatally shot


By Patrick White
The Globe and Mail

HAY RIVER, Canada — The RCMP constable who was fatally shot in Hay River early Saturday morning may have lain dying for nearly an hour without backup while a dispatcher based 400 kilometres away tried in vain to radio him, according to neighbours in the tight-knit community.
One Hay River resident, who was monitoring his police scanner around 5 a.m. on Saturday, said he heard a Yellowknife dispatcher repeatedly hail Constable Christopher John Worden for around 45 minutes, not knowing the officer had been fatally shot.
"The dispatcher was saying, 'Please respond, please respond,' " Glenn Larsen said. "She went on and on and on that way for 45 minutes before she called for backup. I was thinking, 'Give it a rest, lady, the officer is probably napping or something.' "
Several neighbours in the area where Constable Worden, 30, was fatally shot said sirens responded about an hour after they heard three or four gunshots.
While RCMP Sergeant Larry O'Brien would not comment on the time lapse between the shooting and the arrival of backup, he did say that officers working calls alone usually put themselves on a timer with dispatchers. If the officer doesn't make radio contact for a specified time, the dispatcher knows to call for backup.
Sgt. O'Brien couldn't say whether Constable Worden was on a timer the morning he died.
Late Sunday night, the RCMP charged 23-year-old Emrah Bulatci with Constable Worden's murder. They suspect Mr. Bulatci fled the scene in a grey 2004 Ford Expedition, with the licence plate LEC 010, slipping out of town before police could set up roadblocks north to Yellowknife and south toward Edmonton.
Police throughout Western Canada are on the lookout for Mr. Bulatci, who they consider armed and dangerous. RCMP say he may also be known as Justin Elise, and his last known addresses include locations in the Edmonton area.
Mr. Bulatci was arrested during a drug bust in Edmonton last February, but released after posting $20,000 bail, the Edmonton Sun reported.
Two neighbours said they had seen Mr. Bulatci in town that night accompanied by two other men.
Constable Worden had been responding to a call in a notorious stretch of town termed Disneyland by locals for its late-night parties, drinking and drugs. Mounties who later arrived on the scene eventually found Constable Worden next to a spruce tree outside the Singles, a nearby apartment complex. Constable Worden, who received the unspecified early-morning call while he was off duty but on call, would have known the neighbourhood well.
Just two weeks ago, several residents of the Disneyland houses called police after witnessing a 15-person brawl break out on the street outside their homes.
"They were swinging at each other with sticks, golf clubs, bats — all sorts of stuff," said Tatelena Dow, who lives in Disneyland but has been pressing the housing authority to place her elsewhere. "I have two kids and I don't even let them outside any more. If they can kill a cop, they won't hesitate to kill anyone else."
A call to the Hay River Housing Authority, which operates the subsidized Disneyland housing, was not returned.
Neighbours have long suspected that the address where Constable Worden parked his police cruiser that morning was a crack-cocaine den."There were always Edmonton kids there acting tough," said neighbour Scott Provincial. "It was no secret that there was crack there. There's a lot of crack all over town these days."
A teenager who answered the door at the home yesterday said she had heard the shots but knew nothing else about the slaying. Police took away one of the teenagers at the residence yesterday afternoon.
During the summer, Constable Worden investigated the severe beating of a Hay River man who had been walking through Disneyland in the early morning hours.
"He definitely knew what he was getting into the other night," said Margaret MacLennan, the mother of the man who was beaten. "He'd been keeping his eye on the area. That's why I can't understand why he came alone."
Constable Worden's wife, Jodie, tearfully read a statement outside the couple's home.
"As a husband and father, Chris is irreplaceable," she said, flanked by her mother, father and eight-month-old daughter, Alexis. "While we are still in shock and disbelief that he is no longer with us, it gives us strength to know we have the support of a nation that recognizes and appreciates the ultimate sacrifice that Chris and other men and women have made for them."
The accused's father, Erdogan Bulatci, is also trying to make sense of what has happened.
He said he can't believe that his son is wanted by police in Constable Worden's death.
"I don't believe it," Mr. Bulatci told The Canadian Press. "He has a baby, why is he going to do a thing like that? I don't think he would do such a thing."
The father said he hasn't talked with or seen his son for more than a year. Emrah Bulatci has blond hair, blue eyes, weighs about 135 pounds and is about five feet tall.

Wire Service

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