RCMP honours fallen Saskatoon members
The RCMP unveiled plaques on Friday to honour three Saskatoon members who died in the line of duty in the last 78 years.
The plaques memorialize Insp. Lorne James Sampson, Const. Thomas Brian King, and Const. Joseph Ernest Jean-Guy Daniel Bourdon.
The plaques are on display at the force's Central District Headquarters in Saskatoon.
Insp. Lorne James Sampson, 38
d. May 8, 1933
Sampson joined the RCMP in September of 1914, before serving overseas in World War I. He rejoined the force in 1919, serving in Vancouver until 1932. He received a number of promotions, making Inspector in April, 1933, when he was transferred to Saskatoon to take charge of the northern training squad.
On May 8, 1933, Sampson was part of a unit attempting to suppress a disturbance at a relief camp in Saskatoon. The angry mob outside was pelting officers with rocks and bottles and pieces of broken cement, one of which hit Sampson in the head.
He fell to the ground as his horse reared up, but Sampson's right foot was caught in the stirrup and he was dragged behind the fleeing animal. Sampson was hit in the head when the horse tried to run between a row of iron posts that lined the driveway.
He died of his injuries in hospital, leaving behind his wife, an 11-year-old son, and a 7-year-old daughter.
Sampson is buried at the RCMP cemetery at Depot Division, Regina.
Const. Thomas Brian King, 40
d. Apr. 25, 1978
King first joined the force in 1971 as a civilian radio operator before becoming a Constable in December 1974.
Early in the morning on April 25, 1978, he stopped a car just north of the city limits on Highway 11 for a minor traffic violation.
According to the RCMP, the two men in the car, Darrell Crook, 18, and Gregory Michael Fisher, 19, were "police haters" who had set out that night to kill an officer.
The men overcame King and forced him into the trunk of their car before taking him to the banks of the South Saskatchewan River and shooting him several times with his own service revolver.
King was survived by his wife and their three young daughters. He is buried in the RCMP cemetery in Regina.
Fisher and Crook were found guilty of murdering a police officer, and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Const. Joseph Ernest Jean-Guy Daniel Bourdon, 39
d. May 7, 1999
Called Dan, Quebec-born Bourdon joined the RCMP in 1980 and spent the next 19 years working in Saskatchewan detachments. He was transferred to Saskatoon in 1990, working first at the airport before taking on highway duties around the city's outskirts.
On May 7, 1999, Bourdon pulled over two vehicles for speeding at the same time. He gave a family in an SUV a warning, instead of a ticket, on the condition that the parents take their children to McDonald's with the money saved.
When Bourdon went to speak with the driver of the second vehicle, he was clipped by a speeding semi-trailer that drifted too close to to the shoulder.
Bourdon was rushed to hospital where he died of his injuries. He is survived by his wife and daughter.
Bourdon is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Saskatoon.