Three-hundred and sixty-five days have changed a lot for Ryan Colton. On June 8, 2015, police were investigating one of his neighbours when shots rang out.
“I ran outside…I told my wife to go in the basement with the dog.”
“I saw the other officers rushing out of the front with Const. Harley, realized he was injured, went and grabbed him and we took him off to the far corner.”
Colton and another neighbour carried the police officer away from danger, tried to dress his wounds as best they could and waited for help to arrive.
Sgt. Jason Harley, a 38-year-old southwest division patrol member, was shot in the lower back, but survived.
Const. Daniel Woodall, 35, was killed in the line of duty that night.
READ MORE: Edmonton police Const. Daniel Woodall, 35, killed in west-end shooting
Since then, Colton has become close with members of the Edmonton Police Service. He’s been able to talk through what happened that day with them, work through a traumatizing experience and learn a little more about the man who gave his life serving his community.
“I feel like I know him better, but wish I knew him for my own self,” Colton said.
He spoke to Woodall once before the fatal shooting. He has since learned the “very friendly guy” he met briefly was certainly “one of those guy you wish you had as a friend.”
READ MORE: Who was fallen Edmonton police officer Const. Daniel Woodall?
The suspect’s house – where he was later found dead by a self-inflicted gunshot wound – has been torn down and the lot sold. But, right next door, on Colton’s fence, is a constant memorial: a metal plaque honouring Const. Woodall.
“It was for myself and anyone who knew him because it doesn’t have his name on it, it’s just his reg number. Anyone who knew him knew what happened,” Colton explained. “It’s just a little memorial that I wanted to do.
“Everything I saw the Edmonton police do that day and the way they continue to serve and protect us, it’s just my little contribution to one fallen officer that obviously affected my life and it’s going to for the rest of my life.”
The couple who lives across the street love seeing the special tribute on their street.
“I really like that,” Ollie Noble said. “I think that’s people caring for people. He just doesn’t want us to forget what happened.”
WATCH: Neighbour’s home peppered with bullets during Edmonton police shooting
Ollie’s husband, Paul, was asleep on the couch last June when bullets started flying through the house.
“I remember lying down on the sofa of my family room and this awful noise – I didn’t know what it was – I had fallen asleep and it had woken me up,” the 92-year-old recalled. “It was machine gun fire… There’s 64 bullet holes there that went in my house.”
“Had I been standing up, I could’ve been hit.”
Paul Nobel thinks the plaque is a fitting tribute. He admits he thinks of the police – and Woodall – often.
“Oh yes, I feel really for him and his family. I feel I was very, very lucky.”
READ MORE: ‘It’s a fitting legacy’: City dedicates Edmonton park to Const. Daniel Woodall
Colton went to a ceremony Wednesday marking the one-year anniversary of Woodall’s death.
“Hard to believe that it’s been a year already,” he said. “I mean, I still remember it very vividly. It’s still something I’m never going to forget. It definitely made an impact on my life.”
A local park was dedicated to Woodall. The entire family was there and dozens of police members and civilians came out to show their support.
“It’s nice to see that everyone is still involved,” Colton said.
“Time goes on, but this park and everything we’ve done today, it’s just to remember that a fallen officer, a father, a husband, a son died this day and it’s just good to remember.”