From: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Cdn-Firearms Digest) To: cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V9 #630 Reply-To: cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Sender: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Errors-To: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Precedence: normal Cdn-Firearms Digest Friday, July 14 2006 Volume 09 : Number 630 In this issue: RCMP are scaling back the search for Curtis Dagenais Manhunt stirs memories of 1970 police shooting Column: Gun registry costly undertaking with little results Police injured by pellet gun Toronto's homicide total for the year has risen to 38 Under the proposed gun legislation ... Letter to Edmonton Journal ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 09:43:38 -0600 (CST) From: owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Majordomo User) Subject: RCMP are scaling back the search for Curtis Dagenais PUBLICATION: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) DATE: 2006.07.14 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A1 / Front BYLINE: Julie Saccone SOURCE: of The StarPhoenix WORD COUNT: 447 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Manhunt scaled back - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SPIRITWOOD -- RCMP are scaling back the search for Curtis Dagenais after the 208-square-kilometre search area near Mildred. Dagenais is wanted in connection with the shootings of two RCMP offi cers last week. "We don't know where he is," RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Brian Jones said Thursday afternoon. from out of province and detachments in other parts of Saskatchewan are returning home. * Extensive search fails to locate man sought in offi cers' shooting The RCMP will maintain a 24-hour presence in Spiritwood and checkpoints on roads in the area are moving closer to the crime scene. Displaced residents have been told they can return to their homes. RCMP constables Marc Bourdages and Robin Cameron were shot after responding to an assault call near Spiritwood last week. The suspect led the offi cers on a vehicle chase that ended south of Mildred, where gunfi re erupted. He then fl ed on foot into the dense surrounding bush. The offi cers remain in serious condition in a Saskatoon hospital. Dagenais is wanted on a Canadawide warrant in connection with the shootings. He has been charged with attempted murder in connection with a third officer who was at the scene but was not harmed. Since the incident, RCMP have brought in resources from across Western Canada and as far east as Ontario. The RCMP has remained mum on how many offi cers are involved in the investigation, but tactical teams, tracking dogs, a police helicopter and emergency response teams have aided in the search for Dagenais. Officers had found no sign of the suspect on Thursday. "Our officers have been looking literally for broken twigs, impressions in the grass, depressions in the grass, footprints, discarded items of clothing -- anything that would stick out as unusual in that area," Jones said. The decision to scale back the investigation was announced at an open community meeting. "We've satisfi ed ourselves, to the extent possible, that the suspect is not in that area," said RCMP Supt. Rob Nason, district commander for the northern district of the province. "It's very diffi cult terrain, it's a large area. We can't make guarantees, but we feel everything that is reasonable and practical has been done." RCMP offi cials vow the search will continue, with investigators to followup on the more than 140 tips that have been received. They are not saying where the search will move. "Make no mistake, there will be more searches using all the resources and any resources that are needed to address information that may lead us into a new direction or area," Nason said. About 150 people attended Thursday's community meeting, with most eager to return to their homes. Some concerns were raised about Arthur Dagenais, Curtis Dagenais' father, who is scheduled to appear at a bail hearing in North Battleford provincial court today. Arthur Dagenais has been charged with obstruction of justice by entering a restricted crime scene area and with possession of an unregistered rifl e. Arthur Dagenais' neighbour, Dennis Horn, calls him "unpredictable." "I think the ones that aren't used to dealing with Art would be more afraid. I've learned more to live with it, I guess." jsaccone@sp.canwest.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 09:44:16 -0600 (CST) From: owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Majordomo User) Subject: Manhunt stirs memories of 1970 police shooting PUBLICATION: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) DATE: 2006.07.14 EDITION: Final SECTION: Third Page PAGE: A3 COLUMN: Straight Talk BYLINE: Randy Burton SOURCE: The StarPhoenix WORD COUNT: 813 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Manhunt stirs memories of 1970 police shooting - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The parallels are striking. In many ways, the manhunt unfolding in the woods near Spiritwood is mirrored by similar events that happened not far from there almost 36 years ago. While the October Crisis in Quebec gripped the nation, people in Saskatchewan were also fi xated on more local tragedy. In the Oct. 10, 1970, edition of The StarPhoenix, the headline read, "RCMP Launch Massive Manhunt." Two RCMP offi cers had been shot and killed on an isolated farmstead south of Prince Albert and the heavily armed suspect had fl ed into the forest. RCMP offi cers were brought in from all over the province, with the best technology of the day, to hunt for a man charged with shooting and killing the two offi cers. The offi cers died investigating a family quarrel at the farm of Stanley Wilfred Robertson, a 40-yearold Metis trapper and woodsman intimately familiar with the area. Robertson, a crack shot, also had the reputation of being hostile toward police. Dead at the scene in the Macdowall district, south of Prince Albert, were Sgt. R.J. Schrader and Const. D.B. Anson. They were cut down without warning by a high-powered rifl e at about six in the evening. One died on the doorstep of Robertson's farmhouse and the other was found in the yard. Schrader was a 22-year veteran of the force, married with fi ve children. Anson was an 11-year veteran, married only seven weeks before. Robertson took the officers' handguns and fled in their police cruiser with his .306 rifle. The cruiser was found the next day, but there was no sign of Robertson. The incident sparked one of the biggest manhunts in the province's history, which saw men and equipment brought in from across the Prairies. Tracking dogs, aircraft and even two armoured personnel carriers were used to search for Robertson. In the early days of the hunt, a total of 60 RCMP offi cers from across the province were involved. They went out into the forest armed to the teeth in the personnel carriers, wearing bulletproof vests and carrying rifl es, handguns and tear gas. At one point there were two helicopters and three Beaver aircraft on the lookout, along with the dozens of offi cers. They combed an area of about 11.3 square kilometres, much of it heavily wooded bog and muskeg. Roadblocks were set up as far away as Prince Albert and Saskatoon. When the two offi cers were buried, about 700 people turned out for the funeral in Regina. More than 200 crowded the RCMP chapel and a public address system piped the ceremonies into a neighbouring drill hall for the mourners unable to get a seat. Schrader and Anson were accompanied to the grave by a 14-person honour guard that fi red three volleys in the air. Back in the forests of central Saskatchewan, Robertson continued to elude police. October became November and the weather turned cold and nasty. The search was scaled back as winter set in, but police continued to check abandoned buildings by snow machine and aircraft. As time went by, the theories as to Robertson's whereabouts changed. There was a growing belief he was either dead or had left the area. Over the ensuing months, there were reports Robertson had been sighted in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario. All were investigated without success. The fi le became so thick the RCMP had to have it catalogued. And that's how the situation remained for the winter of 1970-71. When the snow receded in late April, RCMP resumed their search with three dozen offi cers and several dogs. Finally, on May 10, 1971, Robertson's body was found, almost seven months to the day since he lit out from his farmstead. He was found lying down under a pine tree atop a wooded knoll that yielded a commanding view of the surrounding forest. Robertson had a .22 calibre bullet hole in his heart, the spent shell lying nearby. Under one arm, Robertson had tucked the .22 rifl e, and under the other was the .306. Const. Anson's RCMP service revolver was still in his waistband. Papers from his wallet lay scattered amongst nearby trees and bushes. Robertson left behind eight children, all of them under the age of 11, and it might be this fact that underlines one of the key differences between he and Curtis Dagenais. Where Robertson was a family man with no criminal record, Dagenais is a loner with a long history of harassing and even threatening law enforcement offi cers. Whether that will fi gure into the conclusion of this story is anyone's guess, but it's a safe bet the RCMP offi cers involved in the present search are intimately acquainted with Dagenais' history. As for Robertson, it's impossible to read those old news stories without developing a sense of foreboding about today's tragic circumstances. Two RCMP offi cers cling to life by the slimmest of threads in a Saskatoon hospital as the largest manhunt in Saskatchewan since 1970 unfolds. It's possible the suspect may have slipped through the net the RCMP have cast for him, but he could very well still be out there. After all, Robertson was eventually found little more than 3.2 kilometres away from his farm. In spite of all the changes in technology since 1970, it's obviously still easy for a man familiar with the country to hide in the woods. As each day passes without a resolution to the hunt for Curtis Dagenais, though, you have to believe the chances of him surviving to face trial are diminishing. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 09:44:39 -0600 (CST) From: owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Majordomo User) Subject: Column: Gun registry costly undertaking with little results PUBLICATION: Red Deer Advocate DATE: 2006.07.13 SECTION: Current PAGE: C2 COLUMN: Outdoors BYLINE: Scammell, Bob WORD COUNT: 808 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gun registry costly undertaking with little results - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A man should have an epiphany occasionally on Canada Day. This year I suddenly understood that the only people who could possibly have given us our firearms registry are people who knew absolutely nothing about firearms and firearm owners, and who had completely forgotten that The Constitution Act, the old BNA Act, is still the law of the land. Much of that insight, strangely, came from mulling over a couple of pieces, in the June 20 Globe and Mail, of all liberal places, actually making the case for scrapping the registry. The lead editorial, titled The long gun registry is ripe for dismantling, contained this startling gem: "As Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day noted yesterday when he introduced his bill (to end the registry), it was always fanciful to think that tracking down, describing and registering every duck rifle and gopher gun in the country was going to make a dent in gun crime." One can only hope this is simply an ignorant editorial writer putting ignorant words in Mr. Day's mouth and that the minister, at least, knows the difference between a rifle and a (shot)gun and that it is illegal to shoot ducks with the former and stupid, expensive overkill to shoot gophers with a shotgun. But the major food for thought came from a story, "Up in arms over long-gun registration," by Gloria Galloway, from Ottawa: "(The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police) insist (the registry) is a valuable tool for preparing officers to enter dangerous situations - although they have difficulty providing examples of instances in which it has solved crimes or helped save lives." Anyone who follows gun atrocities in this country will not have much trouble providing examples to the contrary, and worse. Take, for one horrible example, James Rosko's Mayerthorpe massacre. In writing what needs saying here, I am not for a moment being callous about the tragic loss of young lives and the devastating effect that must have on their loved ones. But, as with most of these firearms-related atrocities, we never seem to be informed if the firearms were registered, or if the perpetrator was licensed to possess or acquire them. With his criminal record, we like to think that Rosko would never have been granted a licence to possess or acquire firearms, even if he had taken and passed the mandatory firearms safety course and stored his arsenal safely, as opposed to hiding them. Surely the RCMP did not check the registry and, finding nothing, assume Rosko was no threat? Hundreds of thousands of Canadian firearms owners and their firearms are not to be found in the registry, including thousands "in limbo" who sent in their applications and never heard back. How does the registry help? With Rosko, the police knew or ought to have known from common knowledge in the community that they were dealing with a heavily-armed, violent psychopath with a long criminal record, and who hated the police, to boot. Yet, somehow, policemen got gunned down like so many sitting ducks in a shooting gallery. How did the registry save lives? Then there is the case of the bug-eyed psychopath in Quebec, known to be violent, who was forbidden by court order from possessing firearms, who later had his firearms restored to him by a judge so he could go hunting in the fall. In came another complaint, a female officer responded, knocked on psycho's door and was shot dead through it. What could the registry have told the police that they didn't already know? Obviously none of us, and particularly the police, are getting our money's worth from our ruinously expensive firearms registry. To its credit, the Harper government seems determined to rid us of this money-eating white elephant, but faces political problems in Ontario and Quebec where people seem to want to keep on feeding the beast, no matter what. Under The Constitution Act, property and civil rights in a province are a matter of exclusive provincial jurisdiction. Thus, I have always maintained the Supreme Court of Canada, had it been shooting with a full magazine, should have struck down the registry as an incursion into exclusive provincial jurisdiction, particularly when it has never been shown anywhere that registering firearms has any significant effect in true gun control and public safety. If there really are provinces that wish to go on registering firearms, then the feds should give their blessing. Download whatever provincial records are salvageable from that wonky federal firearms computer to each province that wants to carry on, maybe give each one $2 million, the estimated cost way back when of running the federal registry. Then let the rest of the country get on with spending the big savings on what does do some good: background checks, training and licensing of those who wish to possess and acquire firearms and catching and punishing those who do not comply, or misuse firearms. Bob Scammell is a Red Deer lawyer and an award-winning outdoors freelance writer. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 09:45:07 -0600 (CST) From: owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Majordomo User) Subject: Police injured by pellet gun PUBLICATION: Calgary Herald DATE: 2006.07.14 EDITION: Final SECTION: City & Region PAGE: B5 SOURCE: Calgary Herald WORD COUNT: 130 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Police injured by pellet gun - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Two plainclothes RCMP officers suffered minor injuries Thursday after police in Red Deer exchanged fire with suspects armed with a pellet gun. The incident began shortly after 8 a.m. when the officers were observing people in a vehicle parked at a fast food restaurant at 50th Avenue and 71st Street on the city's northside. Police didn't specify exactly what happened, other than to say the suspects were unco-operative when approached by police and shots were fired by both sides. The suspects fled, but witnesses directed police to a spot where a vehicle had been abandoned nearby. K-9 officers and uniformed members found two suspects and arrested them without incident. Officers discovered a disassembled pellet gun nearby. Pellet guns are considered firearms by police because of their ability to injure. In this case, however, police have not said who fired first. RCMP major crimes investigators from Edmonton are assisting Red Deer members with the case. A male and female suspect remain at large. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 09:45:55 -0600 (CST) From: owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Majordomo User) Subject: Toronto's homicide total for the year has risen to 38 PUBLICATION: GLOBE AND MAIL DATE: 2006.07.14 PAGE: A10 BYLINE: TIMOTHY APPLEBY AND SCOTT ROBERTS SECTION: Toronto News EDITION: Metro WORD COUNT: 525 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ No motive apparent in garage double killing Scarborough deaths and fatal shooting in West End bring city homicide total to 38 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Toronto's homicide total for the year has risen to 38 after a middle-aged woman and a 31-year-old father of three were found slain in a blood-soaked garage on a quiet Scarborough street. The shooting took place late Wednesday. In an unrelated gun incident earlier the same evening on the other side of the city, a man newly released from prison was shot in the head. He died of his injuries yesterday. Both of the Scarborough victims, believed to be Canadians of Filipino origin, were shot in the head and were discovered by the man's wife when she returned home, police said. The relationship between the two deceased was not clear, police said. Two assailants believed to be Filipino or southern Asian, wearing light-coloured shirts, were being sought. Detective Mike Barsky of the homicide squad discounted widely circulating suggestions that the female victim -- identified by other police sources as Isabelita Malejana, 56, of west-end Toronto -- was a transsexual or transvestite. "I don't know where that came from," he said. A former neighbour said Ms. Malejana was married with children. The family used to live on Embro Drive, near Allen Road and Sheppard Avenue. "It's so sad that this happened," said Emily, who spoke on the condition that her last name not be published. "She was very quiet. She didn't come out of the house very much. The family kept to themselves for the most part." Emily said the family moved away from the area about a year-and-a-half ago, but she didn't know where they had been planning to relocate. Speculation that the crime was a murder-suicide is false, Det. Barsky said. However, no motive was immediately apparent. The second victim was identified as Virgilio Cuevas, whose wife discovered the bodies at 58 Canoe Cres., near Steeles Avenue and Markham Road, when she opened her garage door at around 8:40 p.m. and called 911. Mr. Cuevas and Ms. Malejana were pronounced dead on arrival at Sunnybrook hospital. Neighbours described seeing a bloody scene inside the garage after police arrived. "I came outside and ran across the street and saw the police running with their guns out," said Jupiter Engracia, who lives down the street from the house. "There was a body in the garage with blood spattered everywhere." When emergency crews removed the other body, it was wrapped in a blanket, Mr. Engracia said. Ammunition was reported to have been found in the home, but police said there was no sign of a gun at the crime scene. The couple's three children, all believed to be under 5, were in the house at the time and were uninjured. Late in the evening, police removed them from the family home. Neighbours said they often saw Mr. Cuevas playing outside with his children. Yesterday, police tape cordoned off the front yard of the home as a police cruiser guarded the area. A lawn mower and three small bicycles sat in the yard. Neighbours said they were shocked that such a gruesome slaying could happen in this quiet, newly built subdivision. "This is scary; it's just two houses away," said Darwin Rubio, 46. "My wife wants to move. . . . This makes her want to move more so." Separately on Wednesday night, a man in his 40s and just freed from jail for breach of probation was also taken to Sunnybrook hospital in critical condition. Shot and wounded in an apartment above a bar on Weston Road near Eglinton Avenue, he succumbed to his wounds yesterday. The man's identity was not immediately released, pending notification of relatives, but a friend who said she knew him well gave his name as Gerald McDonald. Four unidentified youths were spotted fleeing that crime scene. The incident was the latest in a rash of recent fatal shootings in the Weston Road area. The three deaths push the city's firearms-related tally close to the same number as was recorded this time last year. In total, 52 people died as a result of gunshot wounds in 2005, an all-time high. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 09:46:30 -0600 (CST) From: owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Majordomo User) Subject: Under the proposed gun legislation ... PUBLICATION: The Toronto Star DATE: 2006.07.14 EDITION: ONT SECTION: News PAGE: A2 WORD COUNT: 116 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Under the proposed gun legislation ... - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anyone using a prohibited firearm, such as a handgun, during a crime involving attempted murder, discharging a gun with intent, sexual or aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, hostage-taking, robbery or extortion would get a mandatory five-year minimum sentence on a first offence. A second offence would carry an automatic seven-year minimum sentence and anything more would carry a minimum 10-year jail term. Other gun crimes, such as possession, smuggling, trafficking and making a prohibited firearm, would carry a three-year jail term for the first offence and a five-year term for the second. The proposed legislation also creates two new criminal offences robbery where a firearm is stolen, and break-and-enter where a firearm is stolen or sought. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 10:02:13 -0600 (CST) From: Subject: Letter to Edmonton Journal Just submitted, not yet printed (... you know the rest) - -- Const. Dale Johnson wrote an excellent opinion piece (Officers are Accountable -- Letters, July 13) in which he describes the difficulties faced and responsibilities borne by an Edmonton Police officer in the course of their duties. I was with him all the way until he told the readers they would be wise to remember a quote which supposedly explains why we have police, that they are "... our bodyguards; our hired fists..." to "do the dirty work of protecting us -- the work we are too afraid, too unskilled, or to civilized to do ourselves." I have a problem with that bit. Police are not now, nor have they ever been our bodyguards and they are almost certainly never around when an assault takes place. Their job, perhaps more accurately, is to investigate a crime after it has occurred and to arrest a suspect when they can find one. The job of bodyguard falls to the victim at the time of an assault, even if "we are too afraid, too unskilled, or to civilized to do it ourselves." To follow Const. Dale Johnson's lead I leave the reader with another quote, this one by Jeffrey R. Snyder: "One who values his life and takes seriously his responsibilities to his family and community will possess and cultivate the means of fighting back, and will retaliate when threatened with death or grievous injury to himself or a loved one. He will never be content to rely solely on others for his safety..." ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V9 #630 ********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:akimoya@cogeco.ca List owner: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca FAQ list: http://www.magma.ca/~asd/cfd-faq1.html and http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/Faq/cfd-faq1.html Web Site: http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/homepage.html FTP Site: ftp://teapot.usask.ca/pub/cdn-firearms/ CFDigest Archives: http://www.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca/~ab133/ or put the next command in an e-mail message and mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca get cdn-firearms-digest v04.n192 end (192 is the digest issue number and 04 is the volume) To unsubscribe from _all_ the lists, put the next five lines in a message and mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca unsubscribe cdn-firearms-digest unsubscribe cdn-firearms-alert unsubscribe cdn-firearms-chat unsubscribe cdn-firearms end (To subscribe, use "subscribe" instead of "unsubscribe".) 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