Under Fire
On June 4, 2014, 24-year old Justin Bourque stepped through a peaceful, unassuming trailer park community in Moncton, New Brunswick. Fully donned in camouflage, and armed with a rifle and shotgun, Bourque seemed intent on being noticed. He was. A concerned resident phoned the police as Bourque continued on his menacing trek.
Hours later, three officers in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) would be dead, and two others seriously injured. Moncton had suffered its first homicide in four years, and witnessed one of the most savage killing sprees in Canadian history.
The events of that day are harrowingly chronicled in the new investigative documentary titled Under Fire, as are a series of troubling questions concerning police safety, training and preparedness. An angry and mentally unbalanced man with a grudge against the governmental authority, Bourque's mission of terror on that day was devised to murder as many police officers as he possibly could. The RCMP, much like the community they served, was shaken by the level of savagery they encountered and ill-prepared to effectively combat it.
The members of the RCMP play a central role in exposing those departmental defects. Several of them are featured in the film; their faces and voices masked to protect their anonymity. "I knew we weren't ready," confesses one officer. "You don't bring a knife to a gunfight." Insufficient equipment was one such factor which may have led to the elevated carnage of that day. The police force officers were armed only with handguns, which served as a great impediment when attempting to subdue a madman with a semi-automatic rifle. The film also exposes failings in proper training techniques, the lack of which places officers at a severe disadvantage when it comes to ensuring their safety.
Under Fire serves as a vivid reminder of the unspeakable dangers facing our police officers on a daily basis, and our responsibility to provide the tools they need to conduct their jobs safely and effectively. Meeting those responsibilities may not completely eradicate future tragedies like the one which occurred in Moncton, but it will ultimately save the lives of civilians and those we depend upon to protect and to serve.
You can become dependent on weed, just because you never have, doesn't mean it's not possible.
Not physically dependent
there are no physical withdrawals aside from wishing you had some. Been smoking daily over 20 years and have had times where i stopped for however long and just wished i had a joint for a day or two.
Constable Fabric Gevaudan was a very nice man who I had the privilege of meeting on many occasions as he would often come into my place of employment during his shift. He was always respectful and polite and even intervened on my behalf when an angry customer got in my face over something I had no control over. I worked just a few blocks from where this all happened and I was very upset when I heard that he was one of the fallen officers. These men had families who loved them and futures that were stolen and anyone saying this is a hoax needs to shut up until they know what they are talking about.
They said Marijuana deprived, likely going through Marijuana withdrawl... are you serious! Do you people do any research before you say such stupid things...
The documentary was great, but inaccurate in it's information on marijuana and heavy metal music. There are no addictive chemicals in marijuana. I can personally attest to the fact that there are NO WITHDRAWALS from it as well. I'm pretty sure Megadeath is not responsible either, since I have listened to them for years and never went on a killing spree. Perhaps rather than blaming made up BS for not being able to recognize the real problems, the RCMP should arm their officers better not only with weapons, but understanding and recognizing mentally unstable people and how to deal with them.
I feel bad for the families of those lost, this was a truly senseless tragedy.
I think the only thing that the makers of this documentary should be flogged for is trying to imply that this happened because the subject was dependent on Marijuana and therefore his actions were due from withdrawal. Sadly, that's how Canadian officials and media bend over for the Americans to support the war on drugs - through the media. Outside of that, the RCMP do not normally encounter things like these events. They will however get training from a specific branch of the Canadian Military for example when it came to the Olympics but nothing on this level. I worked for the Canadian Department of National Defence for many years and there has been issues with regards to efficient training for not only federal but provincial officers as well. I saddens me to read that some asshat thinks this is a hoax.
I think Global News, the producers of this show need to remove the American dildos that are so far wedged up their Canadian asses. Outside of that, it's a good show and reveals a lot of things wrong with Canada.
LOL just a ploy for martial law and more police power and access to funds. That two cops couldn't take out this one guy with handguns speaks to incompetence and fear more than ill-preparedness.
The first bit of this was really good. About half way in it derails by blaming the R.C.M.P. for what happened. Shame. She should have turned the mic on herself. Modern media helped twist the mind of this killer more than any R.C.M.P. officer.
It does seem like there is a trend in which management is provided protection from the decisions they make. This leads to a culture that perpetuates such things. Systems that are slowly corrupting themselves up stream and no one can seem to break through.
Since when did SeeUat Videos start telling everyone what is and is not needed by the police force?
I thought You were independent?
Um, what are talking about? SeeUat Videos didn't make this documentary, they simply host it. In fact, SeeUat Videos don't make any of these documentaries, they are just hosted here. I don't understand how you could think otherwise...
Last paragraph of their description of the documentary!
I never said they made the documentary.
I was stationed at Goose Bay, Labrador 1955-56. 15 mos. I got to visit Moncton. I was only 18 then but still remember this city or the small part I got to see. We were from the 54th Air Rescue Sqaudron and in Air force uniform. Many young girls followed around and the rcmp's told us to leave these young girls alone and we did. We had a great time. I will be 79 this Nov. I wish I could visit Moncton now while I am above ground.
Why a 4.2 rating ?i haven't watched it ,maybe someone could fill me in..
Pro police state propaganda.
Totally agree
I live in Moncton and was in the middle of the dead zone so I can fill you in. Moncton was one of those "small-towns" people often talk so highly about. It's a relatively close-knit community that hasn't had anything close to this happen, ever. We have police; they are armed, well trained and generally want to serve first and protect if necessary. The RCMP weren't anticipating such a senseless, violent act because it's never happened around here. It's just that kind of place. Much like how most laws were written after a related incident; proper adjustments will have to be made.
It's clear that this documentary is a pro gun-rights, military-state broken view. It's not going to help the community and it's misinforming, basically.
Nutcases happen, even in a nice country like Canada, which, unlike the USA, can be said to be a relatively decent civil society (with a functioning infrastructure, public health and other services, no privately-owned prisons, pursuing a peaceful foreign policy, etc). It's one of the few major developed countries that is hardly ever highlighted in the media (since there is seldom anything sensational to report about Canada).
My diagnosis: Bourque is probably not an evil man, and it's even possible that the reason for his shocking act is that he is too good and sensitive a man to tolerate the inequities of this far-from-perfect world. But sadly, being a mentally unbalanced individual, he picked the worse possible course in his attempt to improve it.
I deeply feel the pain of his victims' loved ones. May they some day forgive him.
FYI, Canada's foreign policy have dovetailed the US' since we elected a neocon government by default (no one bothered to vote). They recently expanded our commitment in Afghanistan - unlike our cousins to the south, we'll be back in if they're re-elected in October. For-profit prisons are in the works and social programs have been slashed. Unemployment is up and more people are working multiple part time jobs (which means no benefits) instead of full time jobs. Oil extraction was a one-trick pony for this gov't and now those revenues have dried up.
Our (evil socialist) banking regulations spared us from the worst of the recession, but this gov't have single-handedly put us into one of our own.
The global stereotypes of Canadians as 'unremarkable' is incorrect - we're just not chest-beating flag-wavers. :)
Socially, we're in line with northern Europe much more than the US...except when we flirt with the dark side every so often by electing our version of a conservative...
Kinda like how you can't help looking as you drive by a car wreck...
What saddens me about the way our media are structured is that they tend to thrive on the negative, the 'car wrecks', the catasrophes and other such sensational happenings. One seldom hears anything about places like Canada or Costa Rica, where things seem to be OK in general.
Just the opposite of what the press was like in the good old GDR, where positive happenings were sought out and highlighted to encourage others to emulate them.
That's very true about the car wrecks, Ross...but I have to ask ...
Do you think that's sort of a 'chicken-and-egg' scenario ?
I mean, do they focus on sensationalized stories or are they simply reporting on the types of stories people want ?
As in all things, I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle although sometimes I'm not sure exactly where that line is.
Do you think they don't generally report on Canada or Costa Rica because there nothing salacious going on or because people don't expect there to be or don't really care if there is ?
IMHO we've been conditioned by the mass media and Hollywood with their focus on sex, crime, violence and "the-good-guy-always-wins" formula more than we realise (and since we are, of course, the good ones (see Ray McGovern), we can't lose, not even when WWIII comes around. It's a self-reinforcing positive feedback kind of situation, where the more crap the mass media and the movie industry feed us, the more we (the masses, of which of course I'm a part) want.
They (the 0.1%ers) want us glued to the screen watching ever more ridiculously violent junk and wasting the little time we have after a hard day's work instead of spending at least some of it on rational reflection on the world we live in. It's so sad -- and I see no light at the end of the tunnel.
It's a positive feedback loop: The more sensationalism, sex and violence they feed the masses, the more of it the masses want. The 1%ers got us addicted to junk food, junk films and junk journalism . The main task of the media, which are in the hands of the 1%ers is to keep the masses glued to the TV screen and off the street.
It sounds like your take on what passes for culture is the same as mine, but it's a bit off topic.
My original reply to your OP was to show that we buy into it when we accept the images and stereotypes presented. That's true of the "Canadian" stereotype, to which I take exception.
For such a 'positive feedback loop' to work, people have to be willing to be spoonfed their news and cultural influences. My wife likes cable TV though I don't watch it myself for the very same reasons you've mentioned. It makes for some very interesting conversations (20+ years and we DO still talk :^) as it affects our world views.
Obviously some of it is personality as well, but I tend to focus on what a 'negative' issue actually means and how to resolve it, where she looks to causation and culpability. I think that's a direct result of how we learn about said issue, not unlike the behaviours that our upbringings leave with us - racism, religion, charity, etc.
To wit, with the conservative media's long standing irrational bias toward homosexuality, it will be interesting (though predictable) to watch FoxNews et al spin the US Supreme Court's decision on gay marriage despite all rational argument to the contrary.
Police have been their own worst enemies lately. We need CORRECTLY trained officers with the weapons, and the ones with no sense to be unarmed or at a desk or out of the "serve and protect" business. Way too many murders and suicides by cop lately.
The Moncton shooting was a hoax. Welcome to reality!
Hoax? You mean welcome to the conspiratard reality LOL.
I'm from there, people died. Your comment is amazingly disrepectful.
Bet he thinks you don't exist, heck, I am pretty sure he thinks Moncton doesn't exist either. The one thing I am certain of is he sure can't locate it on a map :D
It's a troll.
If not then just ignore them, they'll die from their own stupidity eventually.
I'm also from Moncton. Stay safe.
Oh good heavens...yes, this was a hoax and Adam Lanza and James Holmes were pawns of the Illuminati.
Just because the interwebz says something doesn't mean it's true.
It sounds like reality left your house a long time time ago and hasn't sent so much as a postcard.
Can't blame the police on this one, they walked into an ambush. Suicide by cop? I think that was the original intention here ... JB armed himself, went into the woods to shoot a few rounds, came out in a subdivision and walked around, ignoring any civilians, even telling some to get out of the area. As those shots rang out, someone called 911. When the first officers came to where he was, JB was waiting with a semi-auto and opened fire, killing 3 and wounding 2.
There's even a Youtube vid shot from inside a house where the residents are screaming to the police through the picture window as he gets gunned down in front of them.
When this all started, I was inside the closed perimeter ... I spoke to some people who know him, including a relative. He had 2 FB accts ... one normal, the other; all the gun info copied and pasted from Prison Planet and Infowars. He seemed obsessed with the 2nd amendment which is weird since, being Canadian, it doesn't really apply.
I could go on and on, who he knew, where he hung out, his drugs of choice, mental problems, fav video games but no, there's no need. This guy was anti gov, anti police and pro gun, which in itself is not a crime, lots of people think this way. But most people don't act upon it.
Guys like him think we live in a police state, but really, it's actions like his which will bring this about. It's so stupid and backwards. He got 75 years, hope he enjoys it :)
For the record I also know some people who know this guy and this comment is accurate.
No sense? you're disrespecting dead peace officers. You must have a wonderful personality and I bet you're everybody's favorite at parties.
Stay classy.