Watch above: They’re trained for it, but responding to traumatic incidents isn’t easy for police officers. Kendra Slugoski has more a call Edmonton officers got earlier this week that led to the horrific discovery of eight murdered people.
EDMONTON — It’s a crime scene Edmonton police chief Rod Knecht has called horrific and chaotic. Early Tuesday morning, police officers were called to a home in the city’s north end where seven people, including two young children, were found shot to death.
“In my 39 years of policing I’ve never seen anything like it,” Knecht said Tuesday night.
The Lakeview home was just one of three crime scenes linked to one of the largest mass murders in Edmonton’s history. Cyndi Duong, 37, was found fatally shot inside a home in the southwest neighbourhood of Haddow Monday night.
READ MORE: One of Edmonton mass murder victims not shooter’s intended target: source
All eight deaths are being linked to one suspect, 53-year-old Phu Lam, who died of an apparent suicide. He was found dead inside a Vietnamese restaurant in Fort Saskatchewan, northeast of Edmonton, later Tuesday morning.
Police said the lone suspect had a criminal history dating back to 1987. The weapon used in the murders was a 9 mm handgun legally registered in British Columbia in 1997 and reported stolen in Surrey, B.C. in 2006, police said.
READ MORE: Edmonton mass murder: a timeline of events
The tragedy has impacted people across the country, including the police officers whose job it is to respond and investigate what Knecht called the “senseless murders.”
“It’s a very traumatic thing for the officers,” said Sgt. Maurice Brodeur, president of the Edmonton Police Association. “We’re just like everybody else.
“I think sometimes people forget that we’re human beings; we’re your husbands, your wives, brothers, sisters, dads and moms.”
Brodeur said officers prepare themselves as best they can for traumatic situations, but it isn’t always easy.
“How do you truly prepare yourself for a massacre — a slaughter — and what you see going in there?”
The EPS has officers who are trained in critical incident stress management for members who wish to speak about their experiences. Brodeur says traumatic incidents often don’t catch up with police officers until later down the road.
“Often times one incident doesn’t do the damage that can be done to your psyche. It can be a combination of many things over years of policing,” he explained Thursday. “It slowly catches up to you.”
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Knecht said he’s extremely proud of the professional manner in which his officers have conducted themselves over the past few days.
“Everybody, I would suggest, is doing very, very well and is focused on the task at hand. It is a difficult task, but they’re very focused on the task at hand and they’re doing an admirable job,” he said. “I’m very proud of the job they’re doing, but this is a horrific event for the city.”
Autopsies on the seven victims found inside the Lakeview home and the male suspect are being performed Thursday. The EPS said results are not likely to be made public Thursday.
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