Mounties arrest suspect James Bourque following Moncton shooting

The man wanted for the shooting of five police officers in Moncton, New Brunswick Wednesday evening is now under arrest.

RCMP located Justin Bourque in a wooded area near the intersection of Wheeler Boulevard and Mountain Road around 12:10 a.m. local time.

Mounties suspect Bourque pulled the trigger killing 3 officers and sending 2 to hospital.

The 24 year old was found in a wooded area in behind a home belonging to Michelle Thibodeau.

“There’s a thin wooded area behind my backyard that’s right beside the highway and he was in that wooded area. It’s not very thick, there’s only about 4 trees deep so he was pretty much hiding between a couple trees.”

“They stopped right in front of my house and unloaded the entire SWAT team and proceeded to my backyard and started yelling ‘come out with your hands up’ and they had their guns loaded. And about five minutes later Justin surrendered himself and said ‘I’m done,’ said Thibodeau.

“They arrested him and brought him to my front yard where they had him sprawled on the ground with a gun to him and luckily they didn’t have to use it,” she adds. “They collected him into the army vehicle and proceeded to search the rest of my yard for firearms and other suspects and now have said that the area is clear and safe.”

Weapons were found in the perimeter but none were found on Bourque, who was arrested without incident.

“I could hear them screaming, ‘come out, come out, come out, you’re there,'” says Linda Peacock who lives a few doors down and hadn’t slept in about 48 hours. “It’s very upsetting to know that he was so close.” It didn’t take long for news to leak out on social media.

Mayor Brad Woodside was one of the first across Twitter to confirm the arrest.

 

Partial video footage has also surfaced online of what appears to be Bourque being led into the back of a police vehicle.

Mounties had called in for extra resources from across the province and country.

Part of the north-end of Moncton was under lock down with schools and businesses closed.

Mail delivery had even been cancelled for the day.

RCMP say they’re in mourning following one of the force’s worst tragedies in New Brunswick.

“With these arrests, the perimeter in Moncton North has been lifted and residents are free to come and go as they like,” said Superintendent Marlene Snowman, her voice cracking with emotion. “It’s been a very challenging 30 hours or more for officers who worked around the clock.”

“Thank you to the citizens who were sharing importing information through social media such as putting on outside lights,” she said. “It was dark, night time and those lights that you put on helped are members execute the arrests and locate this individual.”

Snowman adds it will take some time to heal and no one can be prepared for this kind of situation.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of our members,” she said. “Their dedication and professionalism has been second to none.”

Assistant Commissioner Roger Brown identified the three members killed as 32 year old Constable David Ross of Victoriaville, Québec, 45 year old Constable Fabrice Georges Gevaudan of Boulogne-Billancourt, France and 40 year old Constable Douglas James Larche of Saint John, New Brunswick.

According to family members, Ross leaves behind a wife who is expecting and a young son.

The injured officers have been identified as Constable Darlene Goguen and Constable Eric Dubois, one has since been released from the hospital.

“There’s absolutely no words that can express the sense of pride that I now have in the police officers, in the members, in the community for how you assisted us in bringing this to a conclusion with no one else injured,” said Brown. “That is a miracle and I thank you.”

“I can’t deep dig enough to explain the sadness that we all feel, we need to start this healing process together,” he adds.

There’s no word yet on funeral arrangements.

RCMP is planning another news conference later to discuss what’s next in terms of the investigation and their suspect.

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