'A moment in Windsor's history.'
That's how former AM800 news reporter Teresinha Medeiros recalls the day Windsor police constable John Atkinson was shot and killed outside of a variety store in the area of Seminole St. and Pillette Rd.
"It was a moment in history, and to credit of the police officers on the scene who were professional, resilient, and strong, you know, you think of police officers having like this armour, and they obviously do because they had a job to do that day," says Medeiros.
She was in the AM800 newscentre on Friday, May 5, 2006 just after 2 p.m., when she and others heard over the police scanner 'officer down.'
"We all heard 'officer down,' and we started getting phone calls about gunshots in that area of Pillette and Seminole," she says. "I got into the news vehicle and rushed over to the scene. The police tape had not been up yet at that time, and I recalled getting there and seeing the body covered and wondering to myself, "Why aren't they rushing the individual to the hospital?"
Medeiros says you could feel the intensity at the scene.
"Officers were there trying to do their job knowing that one of their colleagues had passed away, but they still had a job to do, and you can feel it from talking to them," says Medeiros.
She says she talked to residents in the area.
"They had heard gunshots, which is concerning in and of itself, but then later to hear that it was an officer who went to work that morning was doing his job and approached suspicious activity and it cost him his life," she says.
Medeiros covered Atkinson's funeral at the St. Denis Centre and trials for AM800.
She remembers a difficult point in the trial.
"I remember with the trial there was one point where the surveillance video inside the variety store was shown, which really reflected the last moments of John Atkinson's life, and that was really hard for the family to do see that, and I remember emotions breaking out in the courtroom seeing that, how difficult that would be to see that," she says.
Medeiros was a reporter with AM800 for more than 20 years and says covering Atkinson's death was an 'incredibly challenging time.'
AM800 News won two Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) awards for its 2006 coverage.
In April 2007, the AM800 newsroom won the Charlie Edwards Award for Spot News - Central Region, and in June 2007, the newsroom also won the national Charlie Edwards Award for Spot News.
The 37-year-old officer was a 14-year veteran of the force.
He was the first Windsor police officer killed in the line of duty in the more than 120-year history of the service.
Atkinson was married to Shelley and had two children, Nicole and Mitchell.
Tuesday, May 5, 2026, marks the 20th anniversary of Atkinson's death.