By Darcy Henton, The Associated Press
SPRUCE GROVE, Alta. (CP) -- RCMP say a veteran police dog handler was struck by a single gunshot during a firefight that left both the officer and a gunman dead.
Cpl. Jim Galloway, 53, died at the scene. Martin Charles Ostopovich, 41, died later in hospital after a six-hour standoff Saturday in a quiet suburban neighbourhood erupted into gunfire.
But as investigators knocked on doors and scoured the snow-covered scene with metal detectors on Sunday, it was still unclear what happened in the bedroom community just west of Edmonton.
Cpl. Wayne Oakes couldn’t say what provoked the gunplay, who fired first or how many shots were discharged in the deadly supper-hour incident.
He said it appeared the gunman was leaving the small bungalow where he lived when the shooting started.
Galloway, a decorated dog handler, was standing in front of the house, near Ostopovich’s mud-covered truck, when he was shot.
“With the best training in the world, the best technology in the world, the best equipment in the world, sometimes things still go horribly bad,” Oakes told reporters at the scene.
He said Ostopovich was known to police but he wouldn’t elaborate, citing privacy legislation.
One neighbour, who took cover in his basement during the standoff, said Ostopovich was a temperamental individual who owned guns.
Oakes said police were called to the scene just before noon Saturday when a resident reported that a vehicle parked on the street appeared to have been struck by a bullet.
When officers arrived at the home, a panic-stricken woman came out and urged them to leave, warning that Ostopovich was agitated and armed.
“A lady came out and alerted our officers that their presence was putting them in danger,” he said. “They grabbed the lady and left the area. That’s when additional resources were called in.”
An emergency response team rushed to the scene and police were trying to negotiate with Ostopovich when he attempted to leave the home.
Galloway was armed with a police issue Smith and Wesson 9 mm pistol, but Oakes said he didn’t know if the RCMP officer fired a shot before he was struck.
Galloway’s family issued a statement through the RCMP on Sunday.
“Jim was taken from us while trying to make this world a little safer and a little better for all of us,” the statement said.
The family said the tragedy still has yet to sink in and they asked that the media to “please respect that we are in a great deal of pain and uncertainty ...
“There are many questions being asked and there are many answers being sought. The family is focused on supporting and caring for one another at this time,” the family said in the statement.
The death of the veteran officer also shook police in the Edmonton area where Galloway was well known for his work with the RCMP search and rescue team and for his skill in training police service dogs.
“There were obviously some folks that evening that were pretty emotionally devastated by the series of events that unfolded here,” said Oakes, who said he has known Galloway for more than 25 years.
Although Oakes showed no emotion when he talked to reporters Sunday, he conceded “there’s a time and a place for us to sit back and cry.”
He said police are aware of the danger involved in their work, but it doesn’t weigh heavily on their minds when they carry out their duties.
“You have to take the best precautions that you can and you have to be ever mindful that something like this could occur,” he said. “I can guarantee you that no one coming here (Saturday) arrived on the scene thinking that their day, their number, was up.”
Galloway, a 31-year veteran, was a father and a grandfather and would have been eligible for retirement, Oakes said.
Although the RCMP now call people like Galloway dog handlers rather than dog masters, Oakes said he “truly was a master at handling dogs.”
Oakes also expressed sympathy on behalf of the RCMP to Ostopovich’s family.
He said the RCMP major crimes unit from Edmonton’s K-Division could be on the scene for up to two days gathering evidence and piecing together the events.
Autopsies are expected to be performed on both shooting victims Monday. Funeral arrangements were pending.