Justin Bourque had 'kit' ready the night of Mountie shootings
'I was always in the mindset peace doesn't last forever,' Moncton murderer says in released video statement
Court documents released Friday in the case of Justin Bourque provide insight about the Moncton Mountie killer's frame of mind when he went on a shooting rampage on June 4.
The evidence, ordered released Friday by Chief Justice David Smith, includes Bourque's three-hour video statement to police shortly after his arrest.
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When the officer asks Bourque how long he had been planning the attack, he replied: "I just always had a kit that was kind of ready, you know, in case disaster did strike.
"Like I was always in the mindset, peace doesn’t last forever. It never does and I just kinda had stuff ready, you know what I mean, like, except for water."
Bourque, 24, answers the officer's questions with little emotion, other than bravado as he sits loosely in a chair at the Sackville RCMP detachment, wearing blue jail-issued shirt, pants and slippers.
I don’t know what he was thinking. Obviously not very combat savvy guy.—Justin Bourque about officer he shot
"I don't know where they get these guys," Bourque said, referring to the Mounties he shot.
He describes fatally shooting three officers and wounding two others using phrases such as, "I tagged him" and "I just kind of double tapped."
In one case, Bourque estimates he was only about six metres away when he used his high-powered rifle.
In another instance, Bourque says the officer was running when he fired at him.
“He was going to try and take me down I guess, but I don’t know what he was thinking. Obviously not very combat savvy guy."
Later, as Bourque is signing a statement, he says: "They told me not to talk, you know, about all this stuff … but as far as I’m concerned, you know, you guys got me."
The released evidence also includes several photos of Bourque's mobile home that reveal his infatuation with guns and munitions.
They show a 20-gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun above his bed, a self-study manual for a C7A2 automatic rifle pinned to his wall, a copy of the U.S. Army's Improvised Munitions Handbook and a propane tank with a bullet hole in it on the kitchen table.
A poster reads: "God Bless Our Assault Weapons," and a message scrawled in green marker on a white board states: "I am not a fish, I am a man."
The evidence released also includes audio of 911 calls from citizens and radio transmissions of officers under fire.
"He's shooting at me! He's shooting at me!" yells one of the officers, who was shot multiple times and later died.
Bullets whistled past witnesses
Other documents include maps the Crown used during its presentation to the courtroom that show the route Bourque travelled during his rampage in the north end of the city and the 12.6-kilometre area that was locked down during the 30-hour standoff.
Shots went through tree trunks, a child-sized basketball net, an outdoor hot tub and the window of a two-storey home, the documents reveal.
A few witnesses told police they heard the whistling of bullets pass by them and believed the shots were very close to them, the documents state.
One witness said Bourque looked like a young man coming back from a paintball game as he walked calmly through the residential area.
Another reported hearing him yell, "Bring me more cops."
On June 5, at about 11:51 p.m., a Transport Canada aircraft detected a single human heat signature with an infrared camera, the documents state. An Emergency Response Team member using night vision goggles found the area and yelled for Bourque to come out with his hands up.
Bourque replied with "something along the lines of, 'OK, I give up. I'm coming out, don't shoot. I'm done,'" the documents state.
An infrared video of Bourque's arrest is also among the newly released evidence. "I know how much trouble I'm in," he stated.
Later, when asked if he wanted to contact a lawyer, he replied: "Well, isn't it life either way?"
Bourque was sentenced in October to life in prison with no chance of parole for 75 years after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
It is the longest sentence without parole eligibility in Canadian history.
The RCMP officers who were killed on June 4 were:
- Const. Douglas James Larche, 40, from Saint John.
- Const. Dave Joseph Ross, 32, from Victoriaville, Que.
- Const. Fabrice Georges Gevaudan, 45, originally from Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
The officers who were wounded were: