Edmonton Police officer murdered

[Barrister]

Const. Dan Woodall had no warning before shots were fired
Edmonton police chief to address media this morning to provide latest on officer shooting
CBC News Posted: Jun 09, 2015 8:02 AM MT Last Updated: Jun 09, 2015 8:26 AM MT

Const. Dan Woodall and Sgt. Jason Harley had no idea they were about to be shot when they went to a west Edmonton home to serve an arrest warrant last night, in an incident that cost Woodall his life.

"They went to the door to effect an arrest," Maurice Brodeur, Edmonton Police Association president, told CBC News on Tuesday morning. "They had a warrant and suddenly shots rang out through the door. There was no warning."

Const. Daniel Woodall named as Edmonton police officer killed on duty
Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht is expected to provide the latest information on the shooting when he addresses a news conference starting at 8:30 a.m. MT.

Police are always vulnerable when knocking on doors, Brodeur said, adding that "99.9 per cent nothing happens, but this one time, it just went all bad."

Brodeur said Woodall's partner, who was also at the scene, is "completely shook up."

"He's just overcome by guilt and anger over the whole situation, guilt that somehow he could have done something to help.

"I know for a fact there's nothing he could have done," said Brodeur. "It was just one of those tragic incidences that no one can really plan for.

"It's not different than the many many doors you knock on to investigate."

Woodall, 35, had been with EPS for eight years, after being recruited from Great Britain, where he served with the Greater Manchester Police.

He was shot several times.

Shooting scene
Firefighters and police officers were still at the scene Tuesday morning following the shooting the night before. The house burned to the ground. (Lydia Neufeld/CBC)

Harley, 38, was shot in the back, but the round was stopped by his vest. He was treated and released from hospital.

​The officers were members of the Edmonton Police Hate Crimes Unit and were attempting to arrest a suspect for criminal harassment. Knecht confirmed that the arrest was related to a hate-crimes matter.   

The home at the centre of the shootout was subsequently engulfed in flames.

It's believed the suspect is dead. 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/const-dan-woodall-had-no-warning-before-shots-were-fired-1.3105901

[The Brain]

 

[KRonn]

  

[Barrister]

Edmonton police confirm man who killed officer was found dead in basement


BY JANA G. PRUDEN AND PAIGE PARSONS, EDMONTON JOURNAL JUNE 9, 2015 11:32 AM

 

STORYPHOTOS ( 19 )



Const. Daniel Woodall, of the EPS hate crimes unit, is dead and another police officer is recovering in an Edmonton hospital after a shootout on June 9, 2015 while police attempted to execute an arrest warrant. Video by Shaughn Butts
EDMONTON — Edmonton police have identified the gunman in Monday's fatal police shooting as Norman Raddatz.

The investigation that led police to Raddatz's door was a case of "extreme" online hatred and bullying of an Edmonton family, said Police Chief Rod Knecht at a news conference Tuesday morning.

Raddatz, 42, fired 52 bullets from inside his home, killing 35-year-old Const. Daniel Woodall of the hate crimes unit and injuring Sgt. Jason Harley, 38.

Woodall died from a "catastrophic wound," Knecht said.

Knecht described it as "a tragedy of unspeakable proportions."

Raddatz had a criminal record, but it was not extensive, Knecht said. His body was found in the basement of his home in the Ormsby neighbourhood, around 182nd Street and 62A Avenue, which was engulfed in flames after the shooting, burning the house to the ground.

Woodall joined the Edmonton Police Service after immigrating from Great Britain and had been with the service for eight years. He was previously a police officer in Manchester, England.

Knecht said he was described as a good officer and family man, with a sense of humour and a love of soccer.

"His job was to protect all of us from harm, victimization, and criminal activity. We will forever be in his debt for his actions this evening," said Knecht, speaking to reporters gathered at EPS headquarters early Tuesday morning about Woodall's actions. "But, of far greater importance, a wife is without a husband tonight and two young children are without a loving father. This is a tragedy of unspeakable proportions for the EPS, for the broader policing community and for all Canadians."

Woodall's wife posted on Twitter Tuesday morning: "Your generous outpouring of love for myself and my boys fills my heart. He is my hero, our boys' hero & Edmonton's newest hero. #EPSstrong"

Knecht said Woodall's widow is going through a "difficult and unimaginable situation." The couple has two children.

Sgt. Maurice Brodeur, president of the Edmonton Police Association, said he knew Woodall for years and just "had some laughs with him" on Friday.

"Here's a guy who came to Canada for a better life. He completely embraced this country and just threw himself into his work and just enjoyed life. When I think of him, and I'll think of him until the day I'm gone, I think of him with a smile on his face," he said.


Knecht said the shooting happened at about 8 p.m., when several officers came under fire while executing a warrant for criminal harassment at a home. He said the shots were fired from inside the home as the officers attempted to enter the residence.

Woodall was hit several times and died at the scene. Harley, a 15-year member with EPS, was first at the door and was hit by a bullet in the lower back. Knecht said he survived because of his bulletproof vest. Woodall was also wearing body armour.

Knecht said Harley and other officers were "very, very close to death."

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson choked back tears as he spoke at the press conference on Tuesday morning, and said his grief reflected the grief of the city.

Iveson also spoke about concerns that the cancellation of the gun registry as a potential factor in the shooting, but later tweeted saying "speculation about gun registry this morning was premature."

Area resident Angela Wall, 21, said she was watching TV when she heard a couple of loud bangs. She says she thought her neighbour was working on his roof until she heard sirens. She estimated she heard 10-13 shots in all.

"I hope someone wasn't shot," she said. "Shooting a police officer is never right."

Knecht said police believe there was only a single shooter, but the investigation was continuing through the night.

In the wake of the shooting, police tactical units, fire crews and ambulances descended on the area while an EPS helicopter circled overhead.

As the situation unfolded, residents in the area were told to stay inside, and not to tweet or post on social media about exact police movements.

Const. Brendan Power tweeted just before 9 p.m.: "Please stay far away from the area of 184 Street / 62 Ave. You are NOT safe to be observing anywhere near there. Area residents stay indoors."

Neighbourhood resident Adrien Lombard said he was trying to get home when police stopped him.

"Officers told us to get down," he said. "They said bullets were flying everywhere. It doesn't seem like the kind of place this should happen."

The home where the shooting occurred is currently listed in real estate ads as being under foreclosure, occupied but with "no access" and being sold as-is. In 2014, RBC sued Raddatz for $341,000. He and his wife got divorced in 2012.

Knecht said investigators have absolutely no indication the suspect was affiliated with the Freemen on the Land movement.

Woodall was in patrol before joining the hate crimes unit. Speaking to the Journal earlier this year about anti-Semitic vandalism at a city synagogue, he said that no organization or person should have to be the victim of a hate crime.

Woodall is the first Edmonton Police Service officer killed in the line of duty in Edmonton in 25 years. The last officer was Ezio Faraone, who was shot while chasing suspects in a bank robbery on June 25, 1990.

An EPS officer was shot during a traffic stop three weeks ago but survived his injuries.

Brodeur said this latest tragedy could trigger PTSD in some officers. He added there are a lot of resources out there for officers, including a chaplain, fellow police officers, and an on-call psychologist.

"In this line of work, we see things that most people don't see. And the death of a police officer, of a fellow officer, is by far the worst thing because we're the protectors," he said. "When one of yours goes down, you can just never be ready for that."

An Alberta RCMP officer, Const. David Wynn, was killed in St. Albert in January while investigating a stolen vehicle.

Knecht, who was the head of the RCMP in Alberta during the Mayerthorpe shootings that killed four officers in 2005, described the loss of another officer as "a manager, a police chief, a police officer's worst nightmare."

"There's nothing worse," he said.

Knecht said a large contingent of officers gathered at hospital, at southwest division, and at EPS headquarters after the shooting. A clutch of senior officers flanked Knecht as he spoke, their faces grim and strained.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/edmonton/tragedy+Canadians+police+officer+shot+dead+Edmonton/11119936/story.html

[garbon]

I'm confused, how did the house catch on fire?

[Barrister]

I'm confused, how did the house catch on fire?

It's believed Raddatz set the fire.  But it's still a developing story.

[garbon]

Ah gotcha.

[crazy canuck]

The Conservatives are really trying very hard to lose more votes. 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-peter-mackay-edmonton-mayors-gun-registry-comments-absurd/article24876027/

[Barrister]

The Conservatives are really trying very hard to lose more votes. 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-peter-mackay-edmonton-mayors-gun-registry-comments-absurd/article24876027/

Our mayor quickly withdrew his comments.


Here's Slates take on this story:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/09/edmonton_police_officer_killed_reportedly_first_to_die_on_duty_in_more_than.html

It seems to make it a positive that this is only the first officer to be murdered in 25 years, and points to rates of officer deaths in Jacksonville, Florida.

You know, Slate, I'm sure it's hard to constantly have to come up with "takes" on current events.  But how about you hold off on celebrating that we haven't had any deaths for just a day or two.  I can tell you it's pretty somber around here right now in the Edmonton criminal justice world.

[crazy canuck]

The Conservatives are really trying very hard to lose more votes. 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-peter-mackay-edmonton-mayors-gun-registry-comments-absurd/article24876027/

Our mayor quickly withdrew his comments.

Which makes it even worse.  Mckay should have just kept his mouth shut instead of getting so defensive about the Conservative gun registry policy.  What was he trying to achieve.  If people agreed with Mckay then they would have dismissed the comments of the mayor without the Cons saying anything.  But if they agreed with the comments of the major then Mckay just made them more upset. 

[Barrister]

More details about the incident:

Woodall, 35, was one of eight officers sent to a west Edmonton home to serve Raddatz with an arrest warrant on a charge of criminal harassment.

The officers had no reason to believe there was any threat when they went to the house, Knecht said.

He said police had the authority to break down the door if no one answered. The first shots from a high-powered rifle were fired through the closed door. 

Sgt. Jason Harley, 38, was shot in the back, though the round was stopped by his vest. He was treated and released from hospital.

'Body armour saved his life'

"It is clear that the body armour saved his life," Knecht said.

Woodall was hit several times. None of the bullets hit his body armour.

"Sadly, he died on scene due to a catastrophic wound," Knecht said.

The remaining officers took cover and were pinned down by gunfire for at least 10 minutes.

"Because they could not tell where the shots were coming from, the safest course of action was to remain static," Knecht said.

"As we recognize the accomplishments of Const. Woodall, we will remember that Sgt. Harley and the other officers came very, very close to death."

Neighbour Ryan Colton told CBC News he watched the entire shooting from the deck of his home.

He said three undercover officers arrived at Raddatz's home then called for backup. When two uniformed officers showed up, the officers surrounded the home.

Supervisors soon arrived and gave the go-ahead to enter the home with force, Colton said.

Shots fired after battering ram used

Police shouted to Raddatz through the window that they were going to use a battering ram, but he continued to refuse entry, he said.

"After three hits from the battering ram to the door, that's when he started opening fire on the officers."

Colton said after officers dragged Harley out of the line of fire, he and another neighbour carried the wounded officer further away from the house.

Colton said he did not see Woodall get shot, but overheard officers saying the constable was down in front of house.

"They couldn't get to him, because he was just shooting one after another," Colton said.

Police counted 53 bullet holes in the house and garage across the street from the home. They did not return fire, Knecht said.

Knecht would not characterize the shooting as an ambush, but said Raddatz would have been aware police were prepared to breach the residence.

The house was subsequently engulfed in flames.

A body was found in the burned basement of the home, but police are waiting for autopsy results for identification and cause of death.

Police are not looking for any other suspects.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/norman-raddatz-had-extensive-police-file-for-hate-crimes-1.3105901

Man, sounds terrible.  And reading between the lines sounds like Cst. Woodall was shot in the head.

[Malthus]

A terrible tragedy. 

I read this:

Norman Walter Raddatz, the man suspected of being responsible for the killing of Edmonton Const. Daniel Woodall, had an extensive hate crimes file related to online bullying of a family in the city.

I can't help but think - in a way, that family was so damn lucky. This character was clearly a man on the edge of murderous rage, which he took out on the officers comming to arrest him - but it could so easily have been the family he was in trouble for harrassing that he attacked.

[crazy canuck]

A terrible tragedy. 

I read this:

Norman Walter Raddatz, the man suspected of being responsible for the killing of Edmonton Const. Daniel Woodall, had an extensive hate crimes file related to online bullying of a family in the city.

I can't help but think - in a way, that family was so damn lucky. This character was clearly a man on the edge of murderous rage, which he took out on the officers comming to arrest him - but it could so easily have been the family he was in trouble for harrassing that he attacked.

Yeah, the police officer literally died protecting the public.

[Barrister]

Funeral is today.  I had to adjourn an armed robbery trial because I had 7 officers under subpoena, all of whom wanted to attend.

I just got back from watching the funeral procession - they shut down Jasper Ave.  It was... impressive.  There were thousands of police in attendance.  Obviously there were a huge number of EPS officers in attendance, but RCMP and CPS showed up in large numbers.  And then there were officers from all sorts of agencies from all over Canada - those police badges are hard to make out at a distance, but I saw Saskatoon, OPP, and York Regional police.

Several pipe and drum bands as well, but what was most moving is when the pipes stopped, and the only sound was the stamping of thousands of feet marching.

It was slightly amusing to see some of the smaller agencies, like EMS or CBSA, who clearly don't spend very much time practicing their marching...

I'll post some pics tonight if they turned out.

[Barrister]

A few media pics of the procession: