The perpetrator, Justin Bourque, a 24-year-old Moncton resident, walked around the northern area of the city and shot five officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), killing three and severely injuring two.

[20] At around 6:00 p.m. on June 4, 2014, Justin Bourque purchased three boxes of ammunition in the presence of a friend, who did not find it unusual since the two of them planned to go to a shooting range.

Twelve officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) responded to the scene and set up a perimeter around the woods and the surrounding neighbourhood.

Bourque was first seen by Constable Mathieu Daigle stepping out of the forest, crossing a street, and entering another wooded area that bordered the backyards of several houses.

Bourque then fled the woods and emerged southeast of McCoy Street, where he continued walking in a straight line on Mailhot Avenue.

At 7:54 p.m., Constable Martine Benoît arrived at the intersection of Hildegard Drive and Mailhot Avenue, being guided there by a civilian who was following Bourque and reporting where he was headed via 9-1-1 call.

Bourque, taking cover in a deeply shaded and wooded ditch, opened fire on her and disabled her police vehicle with gunfire, preventing her from escaping.

[24][27] The New York Times reported that television footage showed "several cars and police vehicles with bullet holes and shattered windows".

[29] Authorities named Bourque as the suspect[30] after his family and friends saw photos of him during the shootings on Hildegard Drive circulating on news reports and social media.

[31] Because Bourque's location was unknown at the time and he was heavily armed, a definitive perimeter and containment protocol was not established and all of the officers' activities were considered high-risk.

[22] Pedestrians and motorists were asked to stay away from the area of the search; public transit was suspended; and schools, government offices, stores, and businesses were closed.

[9][32] Residents were later instructed to lock their doors, leave their exterior lights on, and refrain from broadcasting police movements on social media sites.

[33] More than a dozen armed officers surrounded the building and deployed a robot with a camera inside at approximately 3:00 p.m. Minutes later, they left the apartment complex after finding no sign of Bourque.

[28] On June 6, at 12:10 a.m. (Atlantic Daylight Time), Bourque was located in the woods by the RCMP with the help of a special Transport Canada Dash 8 National Aerial Surveillance Program aircraft's thermal imaging camera,[35][36] after a resident saw him crouched below a window in a yard on Mecca Drive and called police.

[28] A post added to his Facebook page the day of the shooting contains a photo with a quote from Dave Chappelle, "You ever notice a cop will pull you over for a light out, but if your car is broke down they drive right past you?

"[46][51] He also tended to share images with slogans such as "Free Men Do Not Ask Permission to Bear Arms" and "Militia Is Only a Bad Word if You're a Tyrant".

[43] In his Facebook page, Bourque also posted his beliefs that Canada was "too soft" to survive an impending attack, and earlier in 2014 wrote that people paying attention to the upcoming 86th Academy Awards were ignoring that: "The third world war could be right around the corner, wishful thinking isn't gonna stop this one.

A few hours prior to the shooting, Bourque posted lyrics from "Hook in Mouth", a song by American thrash metal band Megadeth.

[46] After his arrest, Bourque admitted responsibility to the shootings and claimed that he committed them in an attempt to spark a rebellion against the Canadian government, which he believed was oppressive, corrupt, and serving only the wealthy at the expense of other citizens.

[10][53] Also on June 6, Bourque confessed to the crimes in a videotaped one-on-one interview; this, along with one hundred other pieces of evidence, was released into the public domain five weeks after his trial was over.

In the wake of the shooting, the New Brunswick Premier David Alward issued a statement, saying that he felt "incredible grief" from the killings, and offered condolences to the families of the slain officers.

He also remarked that this incident reminds us that "men and women in law enforcement put their lives on the line in Canada every day to protect our citizens and communities".

[65][66] On 15 May 2015, the RCMP was charged with four Canada Labour Code violations; someone who is found guilty of contravening Section 148(1) is liable to a maximum $1-million fine and/or a prison sentence of two years.

The wife of one of the victims, Nadine Larche, wrote in a public email that:[68] Change in this organization is needed before tragic history repeats itself... Had they had proper equipment, proper training and information, I believe that the outcome of that day would have been very different.On 6 January 2017, the date 18 April 2017 was set for the start of the trial of the violations, with provincial court Chief Justice R. Leslie Jackson to hear what was expected to be a two-month trial.

[71] The final Crown witness was MacNeil, author of the 2015 Review, who lamented that nobody took command during the rampage, so officers were forced to make their own decisions amid the chaos.

[72] After losing two of its members in the attack, the Canadian gun rights advocacy organization the National Firearms Association (NFA) released a statement offering their condolences and deploring the incident.

They also claimed, "Incidents like these demonstrate...that none of Canada's firearms control efforts over the past 50 years have had any effect on preventing violence, or otherwise stopping bad people from carrying out their evil deeds...

"[73] The executive director of the Canadian Sport Shooting Association felt that the NFA statement was premature and that, instead of gun control, this incident should lead to discussions about "mental health issues.

"[74] The NFA stood by their statement, claiming that they were responding to the calls for tighter gun control that people on social media and in the government were making.

[74] At the same time, a prominent supporter of the group and practising psychiatrist Ron Charach published an op-ed piece in the Toronto Star calling for more stringent gun control.