Fredericton mayor says city was “forever changed” by 2018 shootings

Looking back on the fifth anniversary of the shooting deaths of four people, Fredericton mayor Kate Rogers says the city was forever changed.

“I think until that time we had the sense that we were a sleepy little town where things like that didn’t happen,” she said.

“What we’ve realized is we’ve seen tragic events like this unfold across the world. We realize that no place is immune to this and that realization really hit home on that day and once you feel that you can’t unfeel that.”

On the morning of August 10, 2018, Donald Robichaud and Bobbie Lee Wright were shot and killed while packing for a camping trip outside their apartment on Brookside Drive on Fredericton’s northside.

Sara Burns and Rob Costello were the first two officers to respond and were also shot and killed.

Reflecting on that day, five years later, Fredericton Police Chief Martin Gaudet said it’s hard to process.

“It’s a tough day. It’s difficult,” he said.

“We’re all hurting in one way, shape, or another, to a greater or a lesser degree. Our thoughts are certainly with the families and then we have our individual thoughts of what we went through that day.”

In 2020, Matthew Vincent Raymond admitted to the shootings and was found not criminally responsible in an eight-week jury trial. He remains in the Restigouche Hospital Centre receiving treatment for schizophrenia.

The force held a small memorial meeting for officers past and present on Thursday morning. Gaudet says that the force has had to learn a lot about supporting each other through the grief and mental health struggles that arose from that day.

“We certainly didn’t know what we didn’t know back then. We thought we were doing OK when it comes to operational stress injuries and mental health support for our own staff, but we still were learning,” he said.

“When we know better we do better, and when it comes to supporting our officers, talking about our mental health struggles, some days are better than others. And it’s OK to be vulnerable, it’s ok to lean on each other and it’s ok to be sad, it’s ok to cry.”

Councillor Bruce Grandy represents the area and says that it’s important to hold the day in remembrance each year.

Grandy is on a committee examining options for a memorial, the designs of which are hoped to be finalized by the fall.

“We hope to create something that people can reflect on, not in sadness, but in a way that understands the challenges that our community faced and faces in the future,” he said.