MONCTON, N.B. – Three Mounties killed in a shooting rampage in Moncton, New Brunswick were remembered Monday as a group of volunteers gathered to officially open a park built in their honour.
The park sits near the Moncton neighbourhood where Constables Douglas Larche, Dave Ross and Fabrice Gevaudan were killed and two other RCMP officers were injured.
Called ‘Honor Park,’ it’s a place where kids can play on their bikes and hopefully where the community can heal.
Jordon Graves was trying out the park’s newly opened BMX track Monday and thinking about that day, back in June.
“It was really a hard time for everyone especially in the family,” said Graves.
Grave’s father is a long-time RCMP officer in Moncton. His family was looking for a way to honour the fallen officers.
Pastor Paul Pattison from Moncton’s Glad Tidings church donated the land for the park.
“We have a couple of officers in our congregation and it really struck close to home,” said Pattison. “We just really liked the idea of a BMX track, it’s a growing area of town and there is a good mix of young families.”
Pattison, Graves and his father recruited a few volunteers to help out with the project. Avid cyclist Justin Letterick was one of the volunteers.
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“I have some experience working on bikes and building other trails and stuff like that,” Letterick said. “So when Jordon came to me with the idea I was totally game for it.”
Volunteers spent nearly two months getting the track ready. Given who it was for, Letterick said it had to be just right.
“We made it so that the kids can still come out here and have fun but someone who is more advanced and wants to come out and have a challenge can still have a lot of fun on it,” he said.
But the BMX track is really just the beginning of Honor Park. The entire area next to the track will be expanded next year, with park benches, a BBQ area and a monument in memory of the three fallen officers.
“It just honours the people and the fallen and allows for people to come together in this area who were impacted by the event,” Graves said.
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