An officer is dead and two others were injured after being “ambushed” in a shooting in eastern Ontario early Thursday morning.
Just after 2 a.m., the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to reports of gunshots at a residence on Laval Street in Bourget, Ont., east of Ottawa.
Police said a concerned citizen made the disturbance call.
Three OPP officers attended the residence and upon arrival all three were shot by an individual at the home.
“Tragically, 42-year-old Sergeant Eric Mueller was killed and two other veteran OPP officers were injured. One of the officers has been treated and released from hospital and is recovering from home. The other veteran OPP officer remains in hospital undergoing treatments,” OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said at a news conference Thursday.
Other officers arrived at the scene and apprehended a 39-year-old man. Carrique said the accused was uninjured and that he lived at the residence. No other injuries were reported.
Alain Bellefeuille, 39, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, according to court documents obtained by CTV News Ottawa.
Police obtained a long gun at the scene, according to Carrique. Further details leading up to the shooting are unknown.
Carrique said one of the OPP officers, a 35-year-old, has since been released from hospital and the other 43-year-old officer remains in stable but critical condition.
Mueller was a 21-year veteran with the force and started his career as a special constable in the Offender Transport Unit in Ottawa.
Carrique said he was an exemplary officer and a family man.
“He’s described by his colleagues as a coach, a mentor, someone that everybody looked up to, the glue that held the ship together. The best leader that many people ever had the privilege of working for and again today, our hearts are broken as we remember Eric. We stand beside his family and we focus our attention on the recovery of the officers who have been physically injured and emotionally impacted,” Carrique said.
Carrique also noted that Mueller had been seriously injured in the line of duty a number of years ago.
The shooting marks a grim milestone with Mueller being the 10th officer in Canada to be killed while on the job in the past year.
“Today with the murder of Sergeant Eric Mueller, that makes five police officers in the province of Ontario that had been murdered since September,” Carrique said.
Carrique added that nine of the 10 officers were murdered.
This past Sunday, police gathered at the 24th annual Ontario Police Memorial Ceremony to honour the officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
