Crime
Red Deer RCMP arrest numerous prolific offenders in targeted crime hot spots
Red Deer, Alberta – Recent arrests of note by Red Deer RCMP include a number of habitual offenders identified through Pinpoint, the Red Deer RCMP crime reduction strategy; more arrests took place in areas RCMP have identified as crime hot spots and locations where the public have reported active criminal behaviour. RCMP seized significant amounts of drugs, several firearms and a replica firearm during these arrests.
November 25
Shortly before 4 pm on November 25, RCMP on patrol in an area known to be active regarding stolen vehicles conducted a traffic stop and located several larger bags of methamphetamine along with a number of individually packaged smaller bags consistent with drug trafficking. RCMP seized the methamphetamine and more than $1,000 in cash as proceeds of crime.
19 year old Mackenzie Rae Bannister faces the following charges:
· CDSA 5(2) – Possession for the purpose of trafficking X 2
Bannister was remanded to appear in court in Red Deer on November 27 and will appear in court again at 9:30 am.
29 year old Robert Sean Bishop faces the following charges:
· CDSA 5(2) – Possession for the purpose of trafficking X 2
· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions
Bishop was remanded to appear in court in Red Deer on November 27 and will appear in court again at 9:30 am.
November 25
Shortly after 3:30 pm on November 25, RCMP on patrol in a known crime hot spot located a stolen truck parked at an address that police have flagged for criminal activity through the Red Deer crime reduction strategy, Pinpoint. RCMP arrested the driver without incident and seized a rifle, a shotgun and ammunition. The suspect was wanted on numerous outstanding warrants out of Red Deer at the time of his arrest.
In addition to his outstanding warrants, 33 year old Trevor James Gatzke faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 86(1) – Unsafe storage of firearms
· Criminal Code 91(1) – Unauthorized possession of firearm
· Criminal Code 91(2) – Unauthorized possession of weapon
· Criminal Code 92(2) – Unauthorized possession of weapon while knowing possession was unauthorized
· Criminal Code 94(1) – Possession of firearm/ ammunition in vehicle X 2
· Criminal Code 355(a) – Possession of stolen property over $5,000
· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions X 3
· TSA 53(1)(b) – improper license plate on vehicle
· TSA 54(1)(a) – Drive without insurance
Gatzke was remanded for court in Red Deer on November 28 and will appear in court again on December 14 at 9:30 am.
November 25
Shortly before 7 am on November 25, RCMP responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle parked on Metcalf Avenue. RCMP confirmed the vehicle had been stolen out of Red Deer and arrested the occupant without incident. During the arrest, RCMP seized an open bottle of liquor and a pellet gun that the suspect was prohibited by the courts from possessing.
30 year old Cody Alan Feil faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 88(1) – Possession of weapon for dangerous purpose
· Criminal Code 117.01(1) – Weapons possession contrary to order
· Criminal Code 355(b) – Possession of stolen property under $5,000 X 2
Feil also faced a number of traffic and GLA charges that have been dealt with; he is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on the criminal charges on November 28 at 9:30 am.
November 20
Shortly after 11 pm on November 20, RCMP on patrol in downtown Red Deer located two prolific male offenders who are well known to police in a stolen truck. During the arrest, RCMP seized cocaine and methamphetamine. The truck had been reported stolen out of Red Deer County in the early morning of November 20.
A 30 year old man faces the following charges:
· CDSA 4(1) – Possession of Schedule I substance X 2
· Criminal Code 355(a) – Possession of stolen property over $5,000 X 2
A 48 year old man faces the following charges:
· CDSA 5(2) – Possession of Schedule I substance for the purpose of trafficking X 2
· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions
Their names cannot be released at this time as the charges against them have not yet been sworn before the courts; both accused are scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer at 9:30 am on January 12, 2018.
November 20
On November 20 at 3 pm, Red Deer RCMP located a stolen Dodge Ram at a storage unit in the Kentwood neighbourhood and arrested the driver without incident. The suspect was wanted on a number of outstanding warrants at the time of his arrest. The truck had been reported stolen out of Rimbey when it was left unlocked and running.
40 year old Michael Langille faces a charge of possession of stolen property over $5,000, in addition to his warrants. He was remanded to appear in court on November 22 and is scheduled to appear again on December 6 at 9:30 am.
November 19
At 4:30 pm on November 19, RCMP responded to a report of a stolen SUV parked in a south Red Deer parking lot. On arrival, RCMP arrested a man and a woman without incident; the woman was in possession of stolen property from a store in the area at the time of her arrest. The SUV had been reported stolen out of Red Deer on November 8 after it was left with spare keys inside it. A 43 year old man and a 41 year old woman will face charges of possession of stolen property; their names cannot be released at this time as those charges have not yet been sworn before the courts.
November 18
At approximately 11:30 pm on November 18, RCMP responded to a report of a personal robbery after a man walking home through downtown Red Deer was approached by two men who assaulted him and attempted to rob him. The victim suffered minor bruising in the assault and was able to get away from the suspects. RCMP did not locate the suspects that night during patrols but identified a suspect during the course of the investigation and arrested him on November 24. At the time of his arrest, the suspect was wanted on an outstanding warrant and was found to be in possession of a small amount of methamphetamine. RCMP continue to search for the second suspect.
48 year old Bryan Wally Kersch faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 463/344(b) – Attempted robbery
· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions X 3
· CDSA 4(1) – Possession of Schedule I substance
Kersch is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on December 6 at 9:30 am.
November 18
Shortly before 7:30 pm on November 18, RCMP attended a south Red Deer business in response to a report of shoplifters in custody. The suspects gave RCMP officers false names but police quickly determined their identities and found they were both wanted on numerous outstanding warrants.
33 year old Melissa Caylene White and 38 year old Travis Dwight Lindsey each faced a new charge of obstructing a peace officer (CC 129(a)) as well as their outstanding warrants. White appeared in court in Red Deer on November 20 and has since had her charges dealt with. Lindsey appeared in court in Red Deer on November 21 and is scheduled to appear again on December 5 at 9:30.
November 18
Shortly before 4 pm on November 18, Red Deer RCMP responded to a report of a stolen car that was parked in a parking lot in the Bower neighbourhood. RCMP attended and arrested the two occupants without incident. The car had been reported stolen out of Red Deer on November 15 after it was left with spare keys inside it.
47 year old Joel David Bremner faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 355(b) – Possession of stolen property under $5,000
· Criminal Code 351(1) – Possession of break-in instruments
Bremner was remanded to appear in court in Red Deer on November 20 and is scheduled to appear again on November 28 at 9:30 am.
25 year old Christopher Evan Keizer faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 355(b) – Possession of stolen property under $5,000
· Criminal Code 351(1) – Possession of break-in instruments
· Criminal Code 733.1(1) – Fail to comply with probation
· TSA 52(1)(a) – Drive without registration
· TSA 54(1)(a) – Drive without insurance
Keizer was scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on November 22 at 9:30 am. He failed to appear and his charges have now gone to warrant status, along with an additional charge of failing to appear in court.
November 18
Shortly before 2 pm on November 18, Red Deer RCMP were patrolling an identified crime hot spot when they located a stolen SUV being driven by a male suspect. RCMP initiated a traffic stop and followed the SUV for some distance until it was clear the SUV was refusing to stop for police. For public safety reasons, RCMP turned off their lights and slowed down to indicate they would not pursue the suspect vehicle, which fled nonetheless and ran a red light at the intersection of Gaetz Avenue and 55 Street. Several civilian vehicles were able to avoid hitting the stolen SUV but one vehicle struck it. The stolen SUV spun and hit a traffic light then collided with another vehicle, pushing that vehicle into the vehicle behind it. RCMP arrested the driver of the stolen SUV and seized a small amount of methamphetamine from the suspect. City of Red Deer emergency services staff attended and ensured that none of the victims had been injured in the three collisions. The driver of the stolen SUV sustained minor injuries and was treated at hospital then released to police custody. The SUV had been reported stolen out of Red Deer on November 13 after it was left unattended with keys in it.
39 year old Simon John Pelletier was remanded to appear in court in Red Deer on November 24 and has since been found guilty of the following charges:
· Criminal Code 249.1(1) – Flight from police
· Criminal Code 355(a) – Possession of stolen property over $5,000
· CDSA 4(1) – Possession of Schedule I substance (methamphetamine)
November 18
Shortly after 5 am on November 18, RCMP on patrol in north Red Deer located a truck that had been reported stolen out of Red Deer late the night before. The truck was stopped at the side of the road as it had run out of gas. RCMP arrested the male driver and a female passenger without incident.
29 year old Jesse Joseph Cecka faces one charge of possession of stolen property over $5,000 (CC 355(a)). He appeared in court in Red Deer on November 20 and is scheduled to appear again on December 12 at 9:30 am.
22 year old Julianna Marie Hinz faces one charge of possession of stolen property over $5,000 (CC 355(a)). She is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on December 8 at 8:30 am.
November 17
Shortly after 4 pm on November 17, RCMP on patrol in an area known to be active regarding stolen vehicles located a stolen car with a license plate that had been stolen separate from the car. RCMP tracked the movement of the car from a distance until it had parked, then boxed it in and arrested the female driver without incident. The car had been reported stolen out of Red Deer on October 25 when it was left running and unattended, and the license plate had been reported stolen out of Innisfail on October 26.
A 28 year old woman faces charges of possession of stolen property over $5,000, possession of stolen property under $5,000 and a number of traffic tickets. Her name cannot be released at this time as the charges have not yet been sworn before the courts. She is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on December 13.
November 17
At 1 pm on November 17, RCMP on patrol in an area known to be active regarding stolen vehicles located a stolen car with two occupants. RCMP executed a high risk traffic stop and took the occupants into custody.
20 year old Savannah Lee Korth faces a charge of possession of stolen property (CC 354) and is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on December 4 at 8:30 am.
November 16
At 7:30 pm on November 16, RCMP responded to a report of a break-in in progress at a locked industrial compound on Golden West Avenue. RCMP attended immediately and located the suspect as he was leaving the area after being caught on camera breaking into a holiday trailer in the compound; at the time of his arrest, the suspect was found to be in breach of a number of court-ordered conditions, including a curfew.
35 year old Robert James Martin faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 348(1)(e) – Break and enter
· Criminal Code 430(4) – Mischief under $5,000
· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions X 3
Martin was remanded to appear in court in Red Deer on November 21 and is scheduled to appear in court again on December 7 at 9:30 am.
– 30 –
By Collin Binkley And Kantele Franko
Robb Elementary School had measures in place to prevent this kind of violence. A fence lined the school property. Teachers were ordered to keep classroom doors closed and locked. Students faced regular lockdown and evacuation drills.
But when an 18-year-old man arrived Tuesday at the school in Uvalde, Texas, intent on killing children, none of it stopped him.
Security failures allowed the shooter to massacre 19 students and two teachers, school safety experts say. The shooting already has led to calls to fortify schools further, on top of millions spent on equipment and other measures following earlier shootings. But more security offers drawbacks, with no guarantee of an end to mass violence. In the worst case, as in Uvalde, it could backfire.
“You can do the best job you can to prevent a school crisis, but we cannot read the minds of all the criminals who are out there,” said Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center, a nonprofit that works with schools across the country. “We cannot prevent all crime.”
According to a district safety plan, Uvalde schools had a wide range of measures in place to prevent violence. The district had four police officers and four support counselors, according to the plan, which appears to be dated from the 2019-20 school year. The district had software to monitor social media for threats and software to screen school visitors.
Yet when the gunman arrived at the school, he hopped its fence and easily entered through a back door that had been propped open, officials said. Behind the locked door of a fourth-grade classroom, he gunned down children and teachers.
Amid the attack, nearly 20 officers stood in a hallway because the on-site commander believed the gunman was barricaded in the classroom and children were not at risk, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said at a Friday news conference, saying “it was the wrong decision.”
The case underscores that even the strongest security plans can be undermined by a seemingly simple lapse, said Curtis Lavarello, executive director of the School Safety Advocacy Council, which provides training on school safety. The Texas school appeared to be doing many things right, he said, but none of that mattered once the gunman was able to walk unobstructed into the building and into a classroom.
“All those things on paper mean nothing if they’re not followed in practice. And there seemed to be a number of gaps,” he said.
In the aftermath of the shooting, some Republicans have been calling for further investments in school safety to prevent more attacks. Some have pushed for more armed police in schools, along with metal detectors and measures to make it harder to enter schools.
Among those promoting physical security measures is Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Appearing on Fox News on Wednesday, he brought up 2013 legislation that would have created grants to help schools install bulletproof doors and hire armed police officers among other measures.
If those grants had gone to Robb Elementary, Cruz said, “the armed police officers could have taken him out and we would have 19 children and two teachers still alive.”
Security experts say the Uvalde case illustrates how fortifying schools can backfire. A lock on the classroom door — one of the most basic and widely recommended school safety measures — kept victims in and police out.
U.S. Border Patrol agents eventually used a master key to open the locked door of the classroom where they confronted and killed the gunman, McCraw said at the Friday news conference.
Some argue that investments in school security have come at the expense of student welfare. Lockdown drills that have become routine for a generation of American students have traumatized students and added to strains on mental health, educators say.
Schools need more counselors and psychologists to help troubled students, not stronger buildings, said Dewey Cornell, a psychologist and director of the Virginia Youth Violence Project at the University of Virginia.
“We have systemically reduced the number of support staff in our schools, and focused too much on installing metal detectors and surveillance cameras and electronic door locks, which are very short term and reactive and very expensive,” he said.
In the wake of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, schools across the country began spending huge sums of money on fortifications including bulletproof glass, metal detectors and armed security.
But such measures can create an atmosphere where students feel uncomfortable and less trusting, and it does not necessarily prevent attacks, said Matthew Mayer, a Rutgers associate professor who works on issues related to school violence.
“You’ll go down these sort of endless rabbit holes of how much security is enough. And when it comes to someone who’s coming in heavily armed, you’re not going to stop them,” Mayer said. “So the idea is you need to figure out why people do this in the first place and have ways — multi-level systems of prevention — to prevent it from happening.”
He advocates for a multi-faceted prevention approach that also includes steps such as improving mental health services, assessing threats more effectively and building trust so students and families are not afraid to speak up if they’re concerned someone has the means or intent to cause harm.
Still, schools can only do so much, he said, and he isn’t optimistic that public outrage over Uvalde will lead to significant change.
“The problem is that a lot of this public reaction, you know, sort of rises like a wave and then recedes over time, and the politicians have been accustomed to riding that out. You know, they make speeches and so forth, and sometimes there’s a commission that gets appointed, and they issue reports,” Mayer said. “But substantive change is lacking.”
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The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Students trapped inside a classroom with a gunman repeatedly called 911 during this week’s attack on a Texas elementary school, including one who pleaded, “Please send the police now,” as nearly 20 officers waited in the hallway for more than 45 minutes, authorities said Friday.
The commander at the scene in Uvalde — the school district’s police chief — believed that 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos was barricaded inside adjoining classrooms at Robb Elementary School and that children were no longer at risk, Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said at a contentious news conference.
“It was the wrong decision,” he said.
Friday’s briefing came after authorities spent three days providing often conflicting and incomplete information about the 90 minutes that elapsed between the time Ramos entered the school and when U.S. Border Patrol agents unlocked the classroom door and killed him.
Ramos killed 19 children and two teachers, but his motive remains unclear, authorities said.
There was a barrage of gunfire shortly after Ramos entered the classroom where officers eventually killed him, but those shots were “sporadic” for much of the 48 minutes when officers waited in the hallway, McCraw said. He said investigators do not know if or how many children died during that time.
Throughout the attack, teachers and children repeatedly called 911 asking for help, including a girl who pleaded: “Please send the police now,” McCraw said.
Questions have mounted over the amount of time it took officers to enter the school to confront the gunman.
It was 11:28 a.m. Tuesday when Ramos’ Ford pickup slammed into a ditch behind the low-slung Texas school and the driver jumped out carrying an AR-15-style rifle.
Five minutes after that, authorities say, Ramos entered the school and found his way to the fourth-grade classroom where he killed the 21 victims.
But it wasn’t until 12:58 p.m. that law enforcement radio chatter said Ramos had been killed and the siege was over.
What happened in those 90 minutes, in a working-class neighborhood near the edge of the town of Uvalde, has fueled mounting public anger and scrutiny over law enforcement’s response to Tuesday’s rampage.
“They say they rushed in,” said Javier Cazares, whose fourth-grade daughter, Jacklyn Cazares, was killed in the attack, and who raced to the school as the massacre unfolded. “We didn’t see that.”
According to the new timeline provided by McCraw, After crashing his truck, Ramos fired on two people coming out of a nearby funeral home, officials said.
Contrary to earlier statements by officials, a school district police officer was not inside the school when Ramos arrived. When that officer did respond, he unknowingly drove past Ramos, who was crouched behind a car parked outside and firing at the building, McCraw said.
At 11:33 p.m., Ramos entered the school through a rear door that had been propped open and fired more than 100 rounds into a pair of classrooms, McCraw said.
DPS spokesman Travis Considine said investigators haven’t determined why the door was propped open.
Two minutes later, three local police officers arrived and entered the building through the same door, followed soon after by four others, McCraw said. Within 15 minutes, as many as 19 officers from different agencies had assembled in the hallway, taking sporadic fire from Ramos, who was holed up in a classroom.
Ramos was still inside at 12:10 p.m. when the first U.S. Marshals Service deputies arrived. They had raced to the school from nearly 70 miles (113 kilometers) away in the border town of Del Rio, the agency said in a tweet Friday.
But the police commander inside the building decided the group should wait to confront the gunman, on the belief that the scene was no longer an active attack, McCraw said.
The crisis came to an end after a group of Border Patrol tactical officers entered the school at 12:45 p.m., said Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Travis Considine. They engaged in a shootout with the gunman, who was holed up in the fourth-grade classroom. Moments before 1 p.m., he was dead.
Ken Trump, president of the consulting firm National School Safety and Security Services, said the length of the timeline raised questions.
“Based on best practices, it’s very difficult to understand why there were any types of delays, particularly when you get into reports of 40 minutes and up of going in to neutralize that shooter,” he said.
The motive for the massacre — the nation’s deadliest school shooting since Newtown, Connecticut, almost a decade ago — remained under investigation, with authorities saying Ramos had no known criminal or mental health history.
During the siege, frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the school, according to witnesses.
“Go in there! Go in there!” women shouted at the officers soon after the attack began, said Juan Carranza, 24, who watched the scene from outside a house across the street.
Carranza said the officers should have entered the school sooner: “There were more of them. There was just one of him.”
Cazares said that when he arrived, he saw two officers outside the school and about five others escorting students out of the building. But 15 or 20 minutes passed before the arrival of officers with shields, equipped to confront the gunman, he said.
As more parents flocked to the school, he and others pressed police to act, Cazares said. He heard about four gunshots before he and the others were ordered back to a parking lot.
“A lot of us were arguing with the police, ‘You all need to go in there. You all need to do your jobs.’ Their response was, ‘We can’t do our jobs because you guys are interfering,’” Cazares said.
Michael Dorn, executive director of Safe Havens International, which works to make schools safer, cautioned that it’s hard to get a clear understanding of the facts soon after a shooting.
“The information we have a couple of weeks after an event is usually quite different than what we get in the first day or two. And even that is usually quite inaccurate,” Dorn said. For catastrophic events, “you’re usually eight to 12 months out before you really have a decent picture.”
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This story was corrected to reflect that authorities say five minutes, not 12, elapsed between when Ramos’ truck crashed and when he entered the school.
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Associated Press reporter Jake Bleiberg contributed from Dallas.
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More on the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas: https://apnews.com/hub/school-shootings
Jim Vertuno And Elliot Spagat, The Associated Press
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