2 Edmonton police officers were gunned down 6 months ago. Investigators are keeping mum

Six months ago, two Edmonton police officers were shot to death as they knocked on the door of an apartment in the city's northwest. The alleged shooter, a 16-year-old boy, also shot his mother before turning the gun on himself. 

The dramatic and tragic events of March 16 captured the attention of the city and the country. But as the province's annual Police and Peace Officers' Memorial Day approaches on Sept. 24, the investigation has long since gone quiet, at least outwardly.

By the time of the March 27 funeral for the two officers — Travis Jordan, 35, and Brett Ryan, 30 — the last public update on March 23 had already come and gone.

"There is no update to share at this time," an EPS spokesperson said in an email response this week.

Police officers are killed relatively rarely in Alberta. In the past decade, six law enforcement personnel have died on the job: three EPS officers, two RCMP members and one from the Calgary Police Service.

By comparison, from 2013 to 2022 there have been 407 homicides in the Edmonton CMA according to Statistics Canada — although that doesn't include deaths resulting from non-criminal use of police force. There have been at least 24 deaths involving police use of force since 2013.

Nevertheless, police deaths draw tremendous public attention, in part because of their infrequency. The funeral for Jordan and Ryan was highly visible event, including a procession through downtown and a televised ceremony from Rogers Place.

It was also expensive: according to a freedom of information request by CBC News, EPS spent more than $400,000 on expenses "directly related to planning, family support (including travel to Edmonton), and event related expenses (venue operating costs, live broadcast, etc.)."

Oilers Entertainment Group provided the use of Rogers Place at no cost. 

The City of Edmonton also spent more than $177,000 on transit bus charters and procession route preparation and clean up.

That the case would go from highly public to strictly under wraps is not surprising according to Dan Jones, a former EPS inspector who now teaches criminology at NorQuest College.

"Policing is an interesting animal," he said. "Transparency is an expectation. That being said, investigative integrity takes precedence over transparency."

While he doesn't have any insight into this specific investigation, Jones says investigators often need to withhold information, whether to avoid disrupting sensitive leads or to avoid skewing public perception before the facts are known.