It was May 5th, 2006. It began as a typical Friday, but would turn into the darkest day in modern history for the City of Windsor.
The call came in at 2:07 p.m. The chilling words that an officer was down.
Minutes before, Constable John Atkinson, a plainclothes officer, was filling up with gas at a variety store on Seminole at Pillette. He observed two teens engaging in suspicious activity in the parking lot, took out his badge, and went to investigate.
One of the teens, Nikkolas Brennan, pulled out a 9mm handgun and shot Atkinson in the face. Despite being gravely wounded, the 37-year old police officer managed to return fire but missed. He fell face first onto the sidewalk and died while the two teens fled.
The married father of two would become the first officer killed in the line of duty in the more than 120-year history of Windsor Police.
David DeLuca heard the dispatch and was the first officer to arrive at the scene. He didn't recognize the victim because there was so much blood, but then noticed Atkinson's badge, with his number 6744.
Within minutes, every available officer was called in, along with the OPP, as police descended upon the scene.
At 2:10 p.m., Const. Tim Harrington came across Brennan running out of a back alley in the area of Alice Street and Tourangeau Road and made the arrest. While being searched, 21 pieces of individually wrapped crack cocaine were found. The murder weapon was later discovered in the backyard of a home on Francois Road.
As the scene unfolded, just down the street is where the Atkinson's lived. John's wife Shelley was home, busy preparing a birthday party for their daughter Nicole who had just turned 7. Shelley couldn't reach John and knew something was wrong.
His best friend, Const. Frank Bauer, arrived at the house and had to deliver the devastating news that John was gone. He was followed by then mayor Eddie Francis and Police Chief Glenn Stannard who offered condolences.
Shelley then had to tell her children, Nicole and 9-year old Mitchell, that their father had died.
6-days later, John was laid to rest.
It was a funeral that drew thousands of mourners to the University of Windsor. One of the few places in the city that could hold that many people.
Six Windsor police officers carried the casket into the St. Denis Centre. Officers from the OPP, RCMP and across the U.S. came to pay their respects along with then Premier Dalton McGuinty.
200 officers from London came to patrol Windsor streets so Atkinson's colleagues could attend.
The two drug dealing teens who ran from the scene were held in custody.
Nikkolas Robert Brennan and Coty Clifford Defausses, both 18, were charged a day after Atkinson was killed with first-degree murder along with drug and weapons offences.
Defausses was later sentenced to 20-months in jail for possession of crack cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
In 2010, he was re-arrested for violating terms of his release conditions.
Police say he has been arrested several additional times since then, including for break and enter.
Brennan was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25-years. He was originally sent to Kingston Penitentiary in 2007, but was transferred to Warkworth Institution, a medium security prison near Belleville just 6-years later in a move that shocked John's family, police and the community at large and was called a disgrace.
Brennan was 18 at the time of the crime and is now 38. He has spent more of his life behind bars then in society.
According to the Correctional Service of Canada, he will be eligible for an Unescorted Temporary Absence and Day Parole on May 15th, 2028.
He can apply for Full Parole in 2031.
Brennan declined an interview request from AM800.
Senior Constable John Atkinson is remembered for his lively, charming personality, his smile and dedication to his family and the policing profession.
He was a 14-year veteran of the force.
The Herb Gray Parkway tunnel near St. Clair College is named in his honour, and the John Atkinson community centre on Alice Street bears his name.
Those are honours bestowed posthumously for a man who gave his life, the ultimate sacrifice, for his community.