OPP sergeant dead, two other officers injured in Bourget, Ontario shooting
BOURGET, Ont.-One police officer is dead and two others were injured early Thursday morning after they were shot in a village east of Ottawa.
The three OPP officers responded shortly after 2 a.m. to a disturbance at a home in Bourget, about 50 kilometres east of Ottawa, where someone reported hearing a gunshot, OPP said.
When they arrived, the officers were shot by someone at the home, police said. All three were sent to an Ottawa hospital.
The commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police said he was anxiously awaiting further information about the two injured officers Thursday, as he identified the slain officer as Sgt. Eric Mueller.
It is with an extremely heavy heart that I regretfully advise that OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller has been killed in the line of duty," Commissioner Thomas Carrique said in a statement posted to social media.
We anxiously await for further word on his fellow officers who are still at hospital."
The incident is the latest shooting of a police officer to rock the country in recent months.
Half a dozen police vehicles were parked outside the home where the shooting took place Thursday morning, as well as a large mobile support truck.Two more OPP vehicles blocked Laval Street, keeping people away from the scene.
The shooting took place on a quiet country road a short walk from the town centre, at a house tucked into the forest near row of semi-detached bungalows. Residents on the street watched the police activity on Thursday morning from their driveways, amid lawns speckled with dandelions.
The major crossroads in Bourget - Laval Street and Champlain Street - were closed when people came in to work in the morning. There was no reason given on site, but residents of Bourget, by that time, had already heard why.
Everybody's talking about it. Each one that came in the store today talked about it," said Eric Boucher, owner of Bourget Home Hardware.
Louise Lascelle lives in an apartment 500 metres from the site of the shooting, near the town centre.
She awoke around 3 a.m. to the sound of gunshots, and saw a dark vehicle parked in front of her apartment. Hours later, the vehicle was still there, and in the light of day she saw something on the hood: a black OPP ball cap. Soon after, a uniformed police officer retrieved the hat and placed it into a brown paper bag, she said, and then a tow truck took the vehicle away.
Clarence-Rockland Mayor Mairo Zanth said the police officers were well known in our community."
They're known by everyone. ... We're a small community, so this is this is hitting home for sure."
Of the slain officer, the mayor said, It's the same thing that I can say about every single officer that that puts their life on the line daily to keep us safe. He dedicated his life to protecting the public, and they'll be remembered as such - as one of those that are local heroes."
What we're going to do is we're going to let the police conclude their investigation. ... Then, once the police tape goes down, I will be going to meet the residents that are in the neighbourhood and make sure they're OK."
Madison Bach, 25, a neighbour, said she got up around 3 a.m. to nurse her six-month-old daughter.
I saw a bunch of flashing lights, but I didn't again think much of it because we live fairly close to a fire station. We also live fairly close to a nursing home. So fire trucks go by from time to time overnight, same with ambulances.
Later in the morning, after hearing what had happened, she said, her family was shocked.
We were at a loss for words. You know, you hear about the rates of crime increasing and you never think that it's going to happen so close to your house."
It really makes you reevaluate you know your safety, especially with having kids you want to do everything in your power to keep them as safe as possible."
In a statement, Premier Doug Ford extended his thoughts to the family of Mueller, who he said was senselessly killed in the line of duty."
The Ontario Provincial Police Association said it was devastated" to learn about the shooting.
Our officer will forever be remembered as a hero in life," the association representing OPP officers said in a statement.
One person is in custody and there was no risk to public safety, OPP said.
Ottawa police officers were supporting an OPP operation in the Bourget area, the service tweeted early Thursday.
It's the latest deadly shooting to shake a police force in Ontario. Last weekend, the names of four officers killed last year were added to the Ontario Police Memorial as part of an annual remembrance ceremony.
Toronto police Const. Andrew Hong was shot in what police described as an ambush on Sept. 12 at a Mississauga, Ont., Tim Hortons. A month later, South Simcoe Police constables Devon Northrup and Morgan Russell were killed after they responded to a disturbance call in Innisfill, Ont.
Then on Dec. 27, OPP say Const. Greg Pierzchala was fatally shot in an ambush while responding to call for a vehicle in a ditch.
With files from Steve McKinley and The Canadian Press