A funeral service for the three Mounties shot dead in the line of duty last week will be held in Kelowna Tuesday morning.
At 8:45 a.m, Trinity Baptist Church will open its doors to the community, so they too can mourn constables Fabrice Georges Gevaudan, Douglas James Larche and Dave Joseph Ross.
Sgt. Ann Morrison said the service will include a few short speeches and the funeral in Moncton will be live-streamed.
“This is a public event and an opportunity for us to come together and acknowledge the sacrifice of our fallen members,” she said.
Members of the Kelowna detachment are already en route to Moncton to be present for the funeral. The city of Moncton has announced that some 5,000 to 7,000 members will be present for the ceremony.
“Although we have a large country to police, all of our members all go through training academy together so we’re connected,” explained Morrison.
“I can’t confirm that we have anyone in the Kelowna detachment who was personally connected to the fallen officers, but we are closely tied together as a brotherhood.”
Regardless of the location of their posting, Mounties face similar realities each day, so this kind of attack cuts to the quick.
“It’s devastating. This affects the policing community and it affects our families,” she said. “To have something this tragic happen again in Canada is devastating.”
Gevaudan, Larche and Ross were gunned down last Wednesday evening after responding to a report of a man with firearms in a residential neighbourhood in the northwest area of Moncton.
In addition to the fatalities, Constables Eric Dubois and Darlene Goguen, were wounded and have been released from hospital.
The shootings and the ensuing 30-hour manhunt for the alleged killer brought the city to a standstill until an arrest was made just after midnight Friday.
The church, which is at 1905 Springfield Road, holds 1,900.
