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2- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, November 1, 1994 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Ei -------- Officer shot following bank robbery By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star Jackie Ellis isn't a But last Thursday night, as she sat ---- ~.] beside her critically CONST. WARREN ELLIS injured husband, one of the police officers shot by bandits fleeing a bank robbery in Port Perry, she was compelled to compose a poem. "In our hour of need You people were there, "With open arms and happy smiles, and a joke here and there You came from home, from work. From who knows where? To assist in any way you could. There's more, and it all adds up to a heartfelt thanks to the community that rallied around Mrs. Ellis and her husband, Warren, a 28-year-old Constable with Durham Regional Police. Const. Warren came back to Port Perry exactly a week after the shooting, to continue his convales- cence at Community Memorial Hospital. front pages. Now they're on the mend, grievous injuries treat- ed and healing, and thinking about life after their ordeal. : \ V ARREN ELLIS and his partner, 45-year-old Mark McConkey, had just begun their 7 p.m. shift last Thursday night when they received a transmis- sion that there was an armed robbery in progress at the Bank of Montreal in the Port Perry Plaza, on Hwy. 7A in the south end of town. They proceeded to the scene in their cruiser, pull- ing up in front of the plaza on Hwy. 7A. "There they go," said Const. McConkey, pointing life out the two masked men who were making their way : to the south end of the plaza, away from the bank. The officers prepared to pull up and shield them- selves behind their cruiser so they could call out to the fleeing bandits, said Const. Ellis. Warren Ellis and his family prepare for future in aftermath of shooting "We pulled into the parking lot so they could hear us when we shouted," he said. "We knew they had guns; we didn't actually hear t they had shot someone until after we were shot. "If anything, we thought they'd just keep running. "lI was just putting the car into park and reaching for the door handle when the sus- pect in back turned around all in one motion, and then -- -- and the first one hit me. Boom! hearing a bunch of shots after that, but I don't know many were. I didn't know where how there After arriving at noon in a limousine and checki my partner x \ 3 2), i. outpouring of care and concern into his room on the ground floor of the local hospt. was... i fe 2 ap directed her way by the feople. of tal, Const. Warren cuddled his children, two-year-old That first Le a ort Perry an h ry be tall p. Acianisond Ty, tives montis, asl be Jc officars Thursday night,and the fol isi i ; ED HERE : : pH 3 reporter. For a time, Warren Ellis and his colleagues windshield La (90 Ge otha yj that much more evident, : -- Const. Mark McConkey and Det. Paul Mooy, the °f Const. honky, "It's just amazing," said Mrs. Ellis, other Durham Police officers shot in the Oct. 20 hold- Ellis' chor nd 05s eyes brimming with tears. "Flowers, up at the Bank of Montreal on Scugog St. -- were the ~CTUISer | wu food, any way it could come. most famous cops in Canada, appearing daily on 2nd frag- 2 ons < "It's actually almost a shock," she P » appe y mented ud 2,0, said. "You'd think today with what's on impact. He was hit in the forehead and face by bullet fragments and particles of wind- shield glass. The impact slammed Const. Ellis back into his seat and left him dazed and immobilized. Const. McConkey was hit in the face. The bullet fragments shattered his jaw. "It took me a second to register I'd actually been shot, because I didn't expect it," said Const. Ellis. "It just felt like my forehead was on fire." Then BEGAN the longest night of Jackie Ellis' Her husband was treated at the scene of the shooting, then rushed to Community Memorial in Port Perry, where staff had been mobilized in a Code Purple disaster response. He was stabilized and then taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. His condition was monitored closely and it was determined that bullet fragments were lodged between his skull and brain. He was scheduled for surgery Friday. Sitting in the hospital room beside her hus- band, Mrs. Ellis, 29, had time to reflect on a lot of things: Here she was, dealing with the fear that is paramount for the wives, relatives and loved ones of police officers. "My father was a police officer too, so as a kid I grew up thinking something might happen," she said last week. "I think it's in all police wives. You have to think about it. "Now that it's happened, maybe it's a relief. Because there's not much possibility of it happening again." She also thought about the RRR NN 3 Ors & 2 N J \ OR 00 lisp Se happening in the news, people have lost their spirit and their hope." OW THE young couple have sur- . vived the crisis, and await what lies ahead. . Warren Ellis plans to be back on the job as soon as he can; his wife supports him, but admits the ordeal will take some time to recover from. "It'll be very hard," she said. "When I saw the kids on Sunday, I was just in tears. That's when I realized we could have lost him. "There's a rough road, but the police are very good. They've got counselling for all of us." Const. Ellis just wants to recover and get back, so he can face the future. "I'm going to go back," he said, "but when I face the same situation again, I know I'm going to react differently." 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Spectators and photog- brother Angus McArthur, 28, raphers were kept back from 985-8552 LOOSE RUGS --- Difenam \ Sear; BROADLOOM \_ the security door where the brothers were escorted separ- ately into the garage. The men were brought into the bail hearing, wearing both leg irons and handcuffs and were surrounded by police of- fiers and security officers. There were no outbursts from either of the men, unlike a pre- vious appearance. After the hearing, which last- ed only 15 minutes, the two men were taken back to separate holding cells. The McArthur brothers face 43 charges, including five at- tempted murder, two counts of robbery, forcible confinement and kidnapping in connection with the local shootings. Three Durham Regional Pol- cie officers, Constables Warren Ellis and Mark McConkey and Detective Paul Mooy, along with Bank of Montreal manager Alan Knight and real estate agent Deborah-Ann Taylor were shot after a bungled bank robbery at the local branch. Durham Regional Police ar- rested the two suspects in two different raids on homes in the SIANIOISCRVIISINOINININ Kingston area the morning af- ter the shootings. The bail hearing for the two leaning pHOLSTERY 3M Scotchguard Maurice Midgley General Delivery Nothing Too Small - Ice - - Groceries - Fop Anything] Fast Courteous Delivery! We Pick-up! Reasonable Rates al