Grief mixes with pride as two Edmonton police officers mourned by their families
CBC
Travis Jordan spent hours as a child conducting make-believe arrests of Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie. After he became a police officer, he made sure to phone his parents almost every day after his shift ended.
Brett Ryan loved his family, which included his wife, their unborn child, his parents and brothers, as well as the extended "family" he'd found among Edmonton's firefighters, paramedics and his colleagues at the Edmonton Police Service.
These were the stories shared in emotional social media posts from families of the two EPS West Division constables in the wake of their deaths early Thursday.
"Today we lost our youngest son in the line of duty with EPS," Laurie Ryan, mother of Brett, wrote on Facebook Thursday. "No words can begin to explain how deep our sorrow and pain is today."
Ryan, 30, and Jordan, 35, were fatally shot Thursday while responding to a family dispute at an apartment complex in northwest Edmonton.
Ryan lived in Spruce Grove, about 30 kilometres west of Edmonton. He worked as a paramedic in northern Alberta before joining the city's police service about 5½ years ago.
Laurie Ryan spoke of her pride in her son and her gratitude to those who came to his aid on Thursday.
"The community, family and friends had one of the best taken from us way too soon," his mother wrote.
"RIP my son, we've been blessed to have you for the past 30 years but today your loss is unbearable."
Jordan moved across the country from his home in Nova Scotia to pursue his career with the Edmonton police, where he worked for 8½ years, his sister Sheena said in a Facebook post.
He had dreamed of being a police officer "since the day he could talk," she wrote.
Jordan was once featured in the local news for giving an Edmonton driver — whose vehicle was heaped with snow — a snow brush and a smile instead of a ticket.
"My brother was one of the best, and every single person who got to work with him, got helped by him, and perhaps even got a ticket are lucky they had him," Sheena wrote.
Jordan was selfless; he wore his uniform with pride and lived for his job, she said. She described her little brother as her hero.
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