EDMONTON—Thousands of somber Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officers in blue dress uniforms marched in rows of eight along the downtown streets of Edmonton today, accompanying the bodies of Constables Travis Jordan and Brett Ryan, who were killed in the line of duty earlier this month.
Spectators lined the procession route as bagpipes and drums played. Fire trucks parked along the streets, with multiple road closures for the event, as Edmonton fire crews stood at attention to pay their respects. A long line of RCMP in red dress uniforms and brown, knee-high boots participated in the march, as did a large contingent of Calgary police officers and other police forces.
Photos of Jordan and Ryan were displayed on the large electronic screens outside Rogers Place, as the hearse carrying the constables entered through the east dock of the underground parkade.
Air 1, the EPS’s front-line support helicopter, flew overhead, with police, fire, and military from a reported 35 regions across the country participating in the procession.
The officers’ caskets will be brought onto the stage and draped with a Canadian flag. Later in the service, the police chief will fold the flags and present them to the slain officers’ families.
Ryan, 30, and Jordan, 35, were shot killed by a 16-year-old teenage male, on a routine call about a domestic disturbance on March 16. The teenager also seriously wounded his mother before killing himself.
