An RCMP officer guards the scene where two officers were shot at the APEX Casino in St. Albert, Alberta on Saturday, January 17, 2015.Amber Bracken/The Globe and Mail
It was 20 minutes to closing at the Apex Casino in St. Albert, just north of Edmonton, in the early hours of Jan. 17.
Rodney and Irene Codner were playing slots and thought about going home, but decided to stay because they were having a good night on the machines.
It's a decision that will likely haunt them for the rest of their lives.
"I heard a commotion," Rodney told Global Edmonton. "I look up and I see the two officers they were chasing the guy and the three were charging toward us.
"One officer tried to grab ahold of the guy from behind and the guy turned around with a gun and he shot the first officer in the head. The other officer tried to grab a hold of the guy and they struggled a bit and the guy shot him, too. It all happened really quick."
RCMP Const. David Wynn and auxiliary Const. Derek Bond were shot during the struggle with suspected car thief Shawn Rehn, a career criminal who was out on bail. Wynn died a few days later in hospital.
"We were close enough that I could smell the gun powder," recalled Rodney.
Rehn took off right after the shootings and looked back to see if anyone was chasing him.
"I was still scared he was going to start shooting us or something like that," said Rodney.
The couple said Wynn was on the ground, and Bond was sitting up. Rodney went to help Wynn. He remembers the Mountie was on his stomach, gasping for air, bleeding profusely.
"I didn't know if he was alive. I put my hand on his head, tried to stop the bleeding," said Rodney, who remembers being soaked in blood.
"At one point he stopped breathing. I patted him on the back and he started breathing again."
The couple recalls hearing Bond saying "officers down" over his radio. They don't remember how long it was before help arrived.
Bond was shot in the arm and torso but survived. When police found Rehn about 10 hours later, he had taken his own life.
More than a month later, the Codners say they relive the incident every day. They say their doctor told them they have post-traumatic stress disorder, and they are seeing a counsellor.
"Lack of sleep, headaches, memory loss," Rodney said of his symptoms. "Being a victim of crime and having to go through everything — it's pretty stressful."
Irene said she doesn't like anyone behind her.
"Any commotion behind me I don't like it," said Irene. "I try to avoid large crowds and segregate ourselves."