True and Fascinating Canadian History
Vet of the Month: July, 2017
Reg.#19582, Staff Sergeant Garnet Morris Mowatt
RCMP Vets. Ottawa, ON
The RCMP lost a great friend with the death of retired Staff Sergeant Garnet Morris Mowatt on June 25th, 2017 in Coquitlam, BC. Garnet came from the 'ole school -- he was born in Queen's County, New Brunswick in 1937, his life and his career were dedicated to the RCMP, he risked his life, he was always willing to go the extra mile for a friend, and he was a devoted husband and a father.
In the final months of his life, Garnet recalled the following story for me. It was about a dangerous incident in his police career and over the years he must have replayed the event over in his mind a thousand times.
In his own words, Garnett said...
"In early January 1960 a hardware store in 100 Mile House, BC contacted the RCMP Detachment and reported that someone had broken into the store overnight. A .303 Lee Enfield Jungle Carbine was stolen along with a considerable quantity of ammunition. After the theft, motorists travelling along the highway reported that rifle shots could be heard during the night.
Constable Bob Hawkes and I were assigned to investigate the break-in. Although we patrolled up and down the highway until early evening, no further reports of rifle shots were phoned in. Then, around 11 PM a motorist encountered a man with a rifle standing in the middle of the highway.
The motorist thought the man was either a Forest Ranger or a police officer but when he stopped his car, the man pointed the rifle at him and and threatened to kill him. The gunman forced the motorist to drive him to the Pacific Great Eastern Railway Station in Williams Lake. After the motorist was released, he called the RCMP.
Bob Hawkes and I were the first RCMP to arrive at the train station. We started to walk down the tracks toward the train when we saw a man wearing a parka type jacket coming toward us. I thought he was the brakeman, so I continued looking over the bank of the ravine for the suspect. As I turned my head toward the man, I saw him pull the barrel of a rifle down to hip level and fire at us in what seemed like one continuous motion. At that moment, no more than 30 feet separated the gunman from Bob & me.
Earlier, I had drawn my revolver, and I fired back at the man instinctively. I quickly realized that since Bob and I were standing shoulder to shoulder we presented a very large target so I ran to my right about 10 feet hoping to confuse the gunman with two targets.
He hesitated for just an instant then he continued to fire at Bob. He was matching us shot per shot even though he was using a bolt action rifle.
I emptied my revolver (5 rounds) and as I glanced to my left I couldn't see Bob. I thought that he had been shot. Actually, he had run down the bank and into the deep ravine. He needed to reload. When I looked up, the gunman was much closer. He looked directly at us. He started to shoulder his rifle, but I fired three more shots and the gunman shouted, “I’m hit, I’m hit”. Then he disappeared from view.
I approached the crest of the ravine from a different angle. I said "Drop your rifle and come up with your hands over your head.”
He came up the ravine but he still had his rifle – the end of the barrel was about waist high and the stock about calf high. He started to raise it again, then I shouted “Drop it or you’re dead.” I was just starting to squeeze the trigger when he threw the rifle down. I was only about 10 feet away from him at the time and he was pointing the rifle at me dead centre.
I handcuffed him and we walked him back to town where he was taken to the hospital to have his wound attended to which turned out to be slight wound to the back of his head.
Considering the number of shots exchanged – about 14 by the gunman, 11 by me, and 5 by Bob we were extremely lucky that no one was hit including the gunman.
Eventually, the gunman was found to be mentally unstable and he was confined to a mental institution. As near as could be determined he was believed to have been a Hungarian freedom fighter who was admitted to Canada as a refugee in 1956.
I asked him why he had fired from the hip in the first instance and his response was that the Russians had taught him that you could fire faster that way.
We were all extremely lucky -- it was amazing that no one died. Undoubtedly, the fact that it occurred in the middle of the night was the biggest saving factor. I came through the event relatively unscathed, but it really rocked Bob for about a month afterwards. As for receiving medals, different criteria was in play in those days. All reports were meticulously scanned for the slightest error or deviation from RCMP policy.
The Supreme Court of Canada had ruled that one was liable for any injury caused by a warning shot, and Force policy said only to use warning shots and never shoot to kill. But, as I told the Sergeant at the time, "I don’t fire warning shots at anyone shooting at and trying to kill me. Thus, no medal for me".
The end.
Garnet was a wonderful story teller, and he was a great police officer on the street. Over the years, I had two memorable long distance phone conversations with him, and today I regret that I had never met him in person.
Garnet and Bob Hawkes might well have lost their lives while confronting the suspect with the stolen rifle during the January night in 1960. He said that the close call with death affected Bob afterwards, but it must have affected Garnet also from a psychological viewpoint even though he may not have recognized its seriousness or its lasting repercussions.
I will always think of Garnet Mowatt as a very special and a one of a kind friend.
Reporting from Fort Healy,
J. J. Healy
July 23, 2017
