Thousands of police march in slain Alberta Mountie’s funeral procession
ST. ALBERT, ALTA. — The skirl of bagpipes is filling the air as a procession of 2,000 police officers snakes its way through the streets of a city just outside Edmonton in honour of a colleague killed in the line of duty.
RCMP Const. David Wynn died after he and auxiliary Const. Derek Bond were shot during a struggle with a suspected car thief at a casino in St. Albert earlier this month.
A riderless horse, a pair of brown boots turned backward in the stirrups, is in the lead of a black hearse carrying Wynn's coffin to an arena for a funeral service.
The procession includes 860 Mounties in their traditional red serge and 450 officers from the municipal police force in nearby Edmonton. Military members and first responders are also part of the march.
The Mounties have come from as far away as Newfoundland, Iqaluit and British Columbia.
A handful made the trip from Bridgewater, N.S., where Wynn served as a paramedic and was inspired to join the national police force.
Hundreds of spectators, who were encouraged to wear red, are lining the procession route in unseasonably warm temperatures and holding Canadian flags.
“We lost an important person in our society and we just wanted to be here to pay our respects,” said Beverly White, who lives about five minutes from the shooting scene and attended the procession with her grandson. “It's going to be an emotional day.”
White's husband Glenn, said being there is about honouring the ones who keep the peace.
“We really need to support the people who help save our country — keep it safe,” he said.
Laredo Nault, 14, travelled from Legal, Alta., with a quilt emblazoned with the quote: No greater love than to give one's life for another.
“It kind of popped up in our minds — an officer gave his life away to protect our country and I think that quote represents it good,” he said.
Wynn is survived by his wife, Shelly and his three sons, Matt, Nathan and Alex.
Several dignitaries are expected at the funeral, which is to follow the procession, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Alberta Premier Jim Prentice.
Bond, who was shot in the arm and torso, survived the attack, but faces a long recovery.
The shooter, a career criminal named Shawn Rehn, took his own life hours later.
In Ottawa, the House of Commons held a moment of silence as the procession began.
The flag at the Alberta legislature are flying at half-mast from sunrise to sunset.
