2014 Atlantic Journalism Awards Finalists
Attachments
| Slug/Label | NB-Shooting-Manhunt |
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| Date Aired or Published | June 4-10, 2014 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | The Canadian Press |
| Name of Program: | Moncton RCMP Shootings |
| If co-produced, list partner: | |
| Location: | Moncton, N.B. |
| List awards, grants: | |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: Alone in the Halifax newsroom on the night shift, Mike Tutton had to scramble when a lone gunman started hunting RCMP officers in Moncton, N.B., on June 4, 2014. Tutton began digging, confirming the barest of details that were available: shots had been fired and people were hurt. He got CP’s story started that night and began working sources and people living in the area where the shots were fired to build a story that would shock and outrage the country. Details were sketchy in the early hours of the shooting, but we started sending more reporters to a city that was facing an almost 30-hour siege as police searched for a killer. Working the phones, Tutton kept updating our story before the Mounties announced 90 minutes into their manhunt that three officers were dead and two seriously injured. Kevin Bissett arrived in Moncton shortly after from his base two hours away in Fredericton. He found a city snarled by road blocks. The scene was often chaotic. Bissett collected information and shot video as he navigated his way to police headquarters late that Wednesday night, arriving just in time to hear a police spokesman tearfully discuss the deaths of his three colleagues. At sunrise, what should have been a typical Thursday morning was anything but normal. Police identified the shooter overnight as Justin Bourque, but details on their operations were scarce. Large parts of Moncton were a ghost town. The Mounties told people to remain in their homes. This was a tricky story to cover and it took place over a large geographic area as a man armed with enough firepower to overwhelm police remained on the loose. Soon, Bissett was joined by two other CP reporters. Andy Blatchford jumped at the chance to help with our coverage and made the trip to Moncton by car after covering the Quebec budget. Keith Doucette drove from Halifax at first light and was able to relieve Bissett long enough for him to grab a couple of hours sleep after working more than 24 hours straight. Blatchford arrived that evening and received word that police were closing in on Bourque. His work at the moment of the arrest brought readers to the scene. He spoke to a woman who watched Bourque get taken into custody, quoting the gunman as telling officers: “I’m done.” They are the only words of substance the public would hear from Bourque until he would plead guilty to his crimes a couple of months later. The highlights of our team’s coverage make up this entry for the sake of brevity. There are too many leads from the full team of Bissett, Doucette, Blatchford, Mike Tutton, Mike MacDonald, Alison Auld and Tara Brautigam to include in this submission. In the days after the shooting, our coverage focused on finding out as much as we could about Bourque and the three police officers who lost their lives. Getting information about Bourque wasn’t easy. We persistently pursued his acquaintances and friends. His family went to ground to avoid public scrutiny. Most of those who lived in the neighbourhood where he grew up didn’t want to talk about Bourque, who committed what a judge described as “one of the worst” crimes in Canadian history. Friends of the slain officers shed light on their backgrounds. In the days after Bourque’s arrest, our coverage also focused on the community as people left their homes, relieved the ordeal was over. While Bissett was in Moncton for the duration of our coverage, he was helped at different times by Blatchford, Doucette and MacDonald, who arrived in the city to help cover the Mounties’ funerals. This entry consists of stories from the start of the manhunt to the funerals because it reflects the largest uninterrupted portion of our coverage. Kevin Ward Atlantic Bureau Chief The Canadian Press |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: Most of the resources of our Halifax bureau, one reporter from Montreal and our New Brunswick correspondent were used to complete these stories. |
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