[Police funeral][Image courtesy of Google images]
Mac Kilduff, Staff Writer
4/26/10 - A gunman opened fire killing a police officer and wounding three more near 22nd and Frederick in Saint Joseph, before police shot and killed him.
Officer Bradley Thomas Arn, 27, responded to the call of a lone, unidentified, gunman shooting at civilians. The gunman hit the police car seven time and one bullet managed to hit the officer in the back of the head before backup arrived and shot the gunman near the Calgary Baptist Church where he had stood firing shots.
The gunman was armed with a high power rifle, a shotgun and pockets full of ammunition. He was wearing camouflage and had a backpack on as well, police said.
Crisis intervention teams have been deployed to talk to Arn’s fellow officers and friends and families.
The last police officer shot in the line of duty was in 1944 but the last officer killed was in 1991 after an automobile struck him.
A four block area around 22nd and Frederick was blocked off after the event.
A victim from Saint Joseph, Jack Martin, 56 was shot several times and underwent surgery at the Heartland Regional Medical Center and is in stable condition. Valerie Sharp, 28, a Saint Joseph resident, and Kenny Cordonier, a Saint Joseph firefighter, were both treated for their injuries and released.
A police spokesman mentioned the police were trying to identify the gunman through fingerprints.
“I think he was firing randomly. I just don’t think he cared what was in front of his gun,” he said, “This just doesn’t happen in Saint Joseph.”
A witness, Norma Guthrie, saw the entire scene break out.
She was with her boyfriend, George Macfeat, as they were driving behind the officer. “We ducked down when we heard the shots, the windows broke out,” she said, “It nicked George and killed the police officer.”
Police officers were in tears and grieving at the scene. Arn is survived by his wife Andrea and his twin three-year-old daughters.
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