By Michelle Mark, The Calgary Sun
A seasoned cop patrolling one of the city’s most dangerous drug neighbourhoods says there’s one rookie officer he’d want by his side when the going gets tough. Sgt. Richard Nyberg was patrolling crackhouses and looking for known drug suspects with seven-month Const. Jean-Marc Boucher late Friday night when things went horribly wrong.
The pair had only been working together for a few hours.
“We chatted for about two hours before this happened, just so I could get an idea of who he was and where he was at,” Nyberg said.
Boucher’s regular District 4 street partner was up in Edmonton attending the funeral of fallen RCMP Cpl. Jim Galloway, who was shot in the line of duty, leaving Boucher to be teamed for the night with Nyberg.
But on that fateful night, a traffic stop ended in the rookie fighting for his life after being pepper-sprayed when a culprit tried to murder him with his own gun.
Nyberg took off after one suspect as Boucher fought with the other who got hold of the officer’s gun and tried to kill him.
“He’s a warrior,” Nyberg said, adding the former Canadian Armed Forces peacekeeper disabled the gun as he stared down its barrel and shoved it in another direction, leaving it with only one shot in the chamber as the culprit bolted toward Nyberg.
“I’m sure he saved his own life and probably mine.”
Nyberg, a 23-year veteran of the force credits excellent police and military training for Boucher’s quick reflexes and stellar police work.
“He went for the gun and disabled the gun while this guy was trying to kill him.
“This is the kind of person you want watching your back.”