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Slain police officers honoured at CBS cenotaph

By Mark Squibb/November 4, 2022

A crowd of about 30 people gathered at the Monument of Honour in Conception Bay South last Thursday morning for a special wreath laying ceremony in honour of four police officers killed in recent months.

“We are here today to pay tribute to police officers who have died in the line of duty across Canada over the last month and a half or so,” said retired RCMP Staff Sgt. Jim Power, who organized and led the ceremony. “Their sacrifice in the line of duty is both tragic and painful.  We who have answered the call for service within the police community do so acknowledging the risk.”

Those gathered honoured four fallen officers: Cst. Andrew Hong, killed on September 12; Cst. Shaelyn (Tzu-Hsin) Yang, killed on October 18; Cst. Devon Northrup, killed on October 11; and Cst. Morgan Russell, killed on October 12.

Members of the RCMP, RNC, and military groups were in attendance to lay wreaths and pay their respects.

All three officers were killed in the line of duty, with Cst. Andrew Hong being the exception. Hong was one of three victims killed during a shooting rampage. He was killed while on his lunch break at a local Tim Horton’s in Mississauga.

Murray Osborne, who retired from the Toronto police force in 2008 with 33 years of service under his belt, had a connection with the late Cst. Hong, though he had never met the officer — a friend of his, now a staff sergeant in Toronto, along with her family, were close friends with Hong and his family.

“I think it’s very important to remember fallen officers and being here at the memorial to remember their service,” said Osborne. “It’s very important that we do this, and not let it disappear, and stand with my friends shoulder to shoulder. Every officer understands that — standing shoulder to shoulder with the officers that protect you. And here we are, standing here, keeping their memory alive, and that’s what this is all about.”

During prayers, a police car sped by, sirens blaring, a reminder of the dangerous job that officers undertake each and every day.

“How fitting was it that, during the prayers, the RNC went by with their sirens going,” noted Power. “It reminds us that now, police are going on active calls, and what it is, we don’t know, and what those results will be, we don’t know. I still wake up at night when I hear the sirens and wonder what’s going on.”

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