Edmonton Police finalizing plans for regimental funeral for slain officers

Details of a regimental funeral for two slain Edmonton police officers have yet to be finalized, the city’s police service said on Sunday after the province’s Premier gave a date then backtracked.

Premier Danielle Smith said during her weekly radio broadcast on Saturday that a police funeral service would be held for constables Brett Ryan and Travis Jordan on March 26. She later corrected herself on social media, saying those plans were “not fully confirmed and finalized at the moment.”

The date, time and place for the commemoration for the officers had still not been announced on Sunday. “We will let media know once funeral plans have been firmed up,” Edmonton Police Service spokesman Scott Pattison said.

Constables Ryan and Jordan were shot and killed by a 16-year-old boy while responding to a domestic disturbance call in west Edmonton early Thursday. Edmonton police Deputy Chief Devin Laforce told a news conference on Friday the officers arrived at an apartment block shortly before 1 a.m. after police received a call about a woman having trouble with her son.

The 55-year-old woman met the two constables outside, and they went with her to the family’s suite, where the officers were shot outside the door. They were wearing body armour at the time, Deputy Chief Laforce said. Neither officer returned fire.

He said the woman struggled with the boy to take the firearm, and the teen shot her, then killed himself. The young man’s father, who was in another room, was not injured. The teen’s mother remained unresponsive and in serious condition, and the father was co-operating with the investigation. Police have not released the names of any of the family members.

Mr. Pattison said on Sunday that the investigation is still preliminary, and police had no more details to release.

Ms. Smith said on her Saturday broadcast that the constables’ families would each receive $100,000 from the province’s Heroes Fund, which was set up in 2020 to support the families of first responders who die while on duty.

She also pointed out that the Edmonton Police Foundation and Edmonton Police Association have set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds to help the officers’ families pay for coming expenses. By Sunday afternoon, nearly $314,000 had been raised out of a goal of $350,000.

Constables Jordan, 35, and Ryan, 30, were the first Edmonton police officers killed in the line of duty since 2015.

“It’s very rare when we lose an officer,” the Premier said. “It was a really rough week for everybody as we watched this tragedy unfold and got a few more details.”