Recommended changes already underway after St. Albert Mounties' death
A fatality inquiry report about the 2015 death of RCMP Const. David Wynn shows significant changes to the province's bail system and Alberta RCMP radio communication have been made since the officer was gunned down.
But the report also notes that even if those changes had been in place when Wynn was shot in the head at a St. Albert casino, the outcome likely would have been the same.
Wynn, 42, was on duty around 2 a.m. in St. Albert when he spotted a suspected stolen truck in the parking lot of the Apex Casino.
According to an agreed statement of facts prepared for the fatality inquiry, Wynn went inside the casino to speak to security staff and view security camera footage.
Const. Denise Caissie, another officer who arrived at the casino, knew there was poor radio reception inside the building. She was partnered with Auxiliary Const. Derek Bond who she asked to check on Wynn while she stayed outside with the stolen truck.
After the two men viewed surveillance video and identified Shawn Rehn as the driver of the stolen truck, they returned to the front desk at the same time that Rehn was walking nearby.
Rehn, 34, ran away with the two officers following him. He pulled a gun from his waistband and shot Bond in the arm and body. Then he shot Wynn in the head.
"The time period between Const. Wynn and Auxiliary Const. Bond's initial encounter with Rehn near the front desk and Rehn's flight from the casino after the shooting was approximately 10 seconds," the court document states.
Sitting outside the casino in her RCMP vehicle, Caissie had no idea shots had been fired. When Rhen got into the stolen truck and drove away, she followed him.
The chase ended when Caissie lost control of her vehicle on a snow-covered road and went into the ditch.
Hours later, the stolen truck was found and a police dog led officers to a rural house.
The Emergency Response Team tried to communicate with Rehn for hours without success. They broke a basement window just before 11 a.m. and then heard a gunshot from inside the house.
Rehn's body was lying on the floor of a basement bedroom. The medical examiner later determined he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the eye. Toxicology reports showed he had high amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine in his system at the time of his death.
Bond survived the shooting. Wynn was pulled off life support four days later.
Better police radios and cell phones now used
The fatality inquiry was told that sending Bond into the casino was against RCMP policy.
Since then, the RCMP has conducted a comprehensive review of the auxiliary program. In Alberta, auxiliary officers must have peace officer status to do ride-alongs with officers and must be wearing soft body armour.
Provincial court judge Bruce Garriock recommended that a new model for involvement of auxiliary RCMP constables be implemented in Alberta.
An RCMP spokesperson told CBC News that Alberta may choose to increase the role of auxiliary officers once they are able to obtain personal liability insurance.
Poor radio communication was the other major identified shortcoming in the moments leading up to the shooting.
Since then, Alberta RCMP has upgraded and encrypted its radio communications system. But the fatality inquiry report notes there are still dead spots in St. Albert. Cell phones have been assigned to every RCMP vehicle in that detachment since Wynn died. They're to be used by officers when they enter a spot without radio service.
The inquiry was told that the violence erupted so quickly, good radio communication likely would not have stopped the shootings.
Former RCMP Inspector John Bennett told the judge, "Speaking from my own personal experience, would that have changed anything? Probably not."
Alberta bail system overhaul
Wynn's death also led to a massive overhaul of Alberta's bail system.
Four pages of the 23-page fatality inquiry report are devoted to outlining the results of a provincial review conducted in the wake of Wynn's murder.
Police officers no longer take the place of prosecutors in bail hearings. Instead only Crown prosecutors are used.
When Rehn died, he was free on bail but there were outstanding warrants for his arrest on 29 criminal code charges stemming from four separate offence dates.
An Edmonton police constable representing the Crown agreed to Rehn's release four months before the shooting.
The provincial court judge found no fault with the constable's decision and agreed that his handling of the bail hearing was "textbook."
Wynn's widow told the fatality inquiry she did not blame the Edmonton constable for releasing Rehn on bail.
"He should never have been placed in that position, to conduct the bail hearing, just as many officers before him have had to, including my husband," she said.
