2014 Atlantic Journalism Awards Finalists
Attachments
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| Date Aired or Published | June 5, 2014 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | Times & Transcript |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: When Moncton suddenly found itself in the middle of the biggest news story in the nation, a shooting rampage that left three RCMP members dead and two wounded, a small team of reporters and photographers at the Moncton Times & Transcript went to extraordinary and risky lengths to cover the news, warn the public of danger, and document the worst chapter in the city's history. At 7:15 p.m. on June 4 all the Moncton Times & Transcript's news reporters had finished their work and gone home. Then the first 911 call was made to police that a man was spotted carrying guns in a residential neighbourhood. Night editor David Gauvin was in the newsroom and heard the initial call on the scanner. He dispatched photographer Viktor Pivovarov, who was photographing a nearby baseball game, and reporter Cole Hobson, who was at home a kilometre from where the police were headed. While Pivovarov and Hobson rushed to the area, Constable Fabrice Gevaudan was shot and killed. Moments later another police officer, Constable Dave Ross, was also killed. The gunman soon ambushed several more police officers, wounding two just as Pivovarov and Hobson arrived. Both Times & Transcript staffers narrowly missed being struck in the barrage. Nevertheless, Pivovarov managed moments later to snap the photograph of the suspect soon seen around the world. The photo was also used by the RCMP to positively identify the suspect. While all of this was unfolding in a 20 minute timeframe, the Times & Transcript's night editor was calling in all the available reporters and two other photographers to cover the story. Photographer Ron Ward shot photos from the scenes of the first two murders (most of which we chose not to publish because of their graphic nature), reporters Alan Cochrane and Brent Mazerolle drove further to the east in the direction they believed the gunman was headed. They only travelled a few blocks when they found Constable Douglas Larche had just been shot. Finding the murder scene unguarded and the dead police officer's weapons unsecured in the street, they knew police had yet to bring the crisis under control and reported that key information for the newspaper's website. They worked taking photos of the crime scene (again, many too graphic to publish) and interviewing terrified residents peeking out the doors of their homes. Photographer Ron Ward was there too in a few moments, capturing many of the images seen across the country that night as police reinforcements began joining the manhunt. Simultaneous to the efforts of Cochrane, Ward and Mazerolle, reporter James Foster had travelled from his home across town to the various crime scenes, ultimately working his way east to where the gunman had indeed retreated into the woods. Even as the police began forming roadblocks in the area and keeping the media several blocks away, Foster found ways to travel around within the lockdown zone, where he stayed awake in his pickup truck all night without food or water, calling in updates to the newsroom. He didn't dare leave for provisions because he feared police would prevent him re-entering the neighbourhood. Back in the newsroom, Night Editor Gauvin had been having a quiet, productive evening. Prior to 7:15 he had his news pages finished and the website had been updated will all of the current stories and photos. By 7:45 he had discarded the contents of four pages and prepared to remake all of them. Reporter Eric Lewis was assigned to handle the internet rewrite desk, where he spent the next seven hours working the phones and constantly writing, rewriting and updating the main story. Reporter GinaBeth Roberts was assigned to The Moncton Hospital, where wounded police officers and the dead and wounded officers' friends and families gathered. Because the magnitude of the threat and the location of the gunman or gunmen were not yet known, the hospital also was in lockdown, adding to the challenge of getting the story. At about 9:30 reporter Allison Toogood emerged from a movie theatre into a scene of chaos. (The gunman was ultimately arrested just 300 metres from the movie theatre). As she stepped up to help, a call came in about a man shot multiple times in the neighbouring city of Dieppe. Unsure if the incidents were connected, we assigned Toogood, where she was the only reporter from any outlet at that crime scene. It was an unrelated incident. Toogood returned to the newsroom and, with summer intern Tess Allen, monitored social media and competing news media throughout the night, getting a macro-view of what was transpiring and who the gunman was while other reporters in the field focussed on their first hand accounts of the manhunt. Toogood also assisted Lewis publishing all incoming details, photos and updates on the website. She and photographer Greg Agnew also staffed the emotional press conference at which Moncton's mayor and the Codiac RCMP officially broke the news that three police officers were dead, two were wounded, and the city was under siege. As the print deadline approached, Lewis was pulled off the website duty and wrote the lede news story, Stringing together everything that had been filed to that point. Toogood and Allen filed a story focusing on the suspect Justin Bourque and what was known of him from his social media presence. As midnight passed James Foster, Ron Ward and Alan Cochrane remained in different parts of the lockdown zone, in the expectation there could be an arrest or further bloodshed at any time. The website continued to be updated by Gauvin, who had finished the print edition, until about 4 a.m. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: |
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