Timeline of police officers in Canada killed in the line of duty

A Montreal police officer was shot dead and another injured when they responded to a 911 call on Monday morning about a shooter at a hotel in the city’s Côte-des-Neiges district. The shooting marked the third time an officer in Canada has been killed in less than two weeks.

Here is a timeline of officers who have been killed in the line of duty in Canada:

June 22: Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher said an officer was shot and killed after responding to reports of a shooter at a Hilton hotel. Dagher said the officer, whose name has not been released, was a “young man” and an “excellent” police officer. A second police officer was injured but her life was not considered to be in danger. A civilian was also killed, as was the suspect.

June 11: Toronto police Const. Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was shot while officers were carrying out a search at an apartment building in the city’s northwest during a raid linked to investigations into multiple shootings, including one at the U.S. Consulate in March. A suspect who remained in hospital after being shot by police was expected to be charged with first-degree murder, police said.

June 9: OPP Const. Tarun Bali, 29, was killed in Hearst, Ont., while attempting to stop a vehicle. OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique alleged an 18-year-old who had escaped from a hospital was driving the vehicle when Bali was struck, and the suspect was charged with first-degree murder and other offences.

April 27: OPP Sgt. Brandon Malcolm, 33, was killed in a motorcycle crash on Highway 401 in Cobourg, east of Toronto. Police said no other vehicle was believed to have been involved, and Malcolm had joined the OPP in 2020 and served on its precision motorcycle team, the Golden Helmets.

Sept. 22, 2023: Ridge Meadows RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien, 51, was shot dead in Coquitlam, B.C., while he and other officers were trying to carry out a search. Police said O’Brien joined the Mounties in 2016 after a career working with at-risk children.

May 11, 2023: OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller, 42, was killed while responding to a disturbance call in Bourget, Ont., and two other officers were hurt. Ontario’s police watchdog said Mueller died in hospital after he and two other OPP officers were “ambushed” and shot.

March 27, 2023: Quebec provincial police Sgt. Maureen Breau, 42, was fatally stabbed while serving an arrest warrant in Louiseville, Que., northeast of Montreal. She was a 20-year veteran of the provincial police, and the man accused in her killing was shot dead by police.

March 16, 2023: Edmonton police constables Travis Jordan, 35, and Brett Ryan, 30, were shot and killed while responding to a family dispute at an apartment complex in northwest Edmonton. Police said the 16-year-old shooter later killed himself and wounded his mother during a struggle for the gun.

Dec. 27, 2022: OPP Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala, 28, was responding to a call for a vehicle in a ditch west of Hagersville, Ont., when he was fatally shot in what police described as an ambush. He had been with the force for about a year and had been notified hours earlier that he had passed his 10-month probation period.

Oct. 18, 2022: RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang, 31, was fatally stabbed when she tried to speak to a man sheltering in a tent in Broadview Park in Burnaby, B.C. Police said Yang was partnered with a city employee when an altercation broke out and she was stabbed.

Oct. 11, 2022: South Simcoe Police Service constables Devon Northrup, 33, and Morgan Russell, 54, were killed after responding to a disturbance call at a home in Innisfil, Ont. Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit said neither officer drew a gun before they were shot, and the agency said a 22-year-old man at the home shot the officers and also died in the shooting.

Sept. 12, 2022: Toronto police Const. Andrew Hong, 48, was shot in an ambush at a Tim Hortons in Mississauga, Ont., while getting coffee for colleagues during a lunch break. Investigators said the man who killed Hong later shot three people at an auto body shop, killing two and injuring one, before being killed by police.

Nov. 19, 2020: OPP Const. Marc Hovingh died after being shot in an exchange of gunfire on Manitoulin Island. He had been an OPP member for 28 years, and the Special Investigations Unit said Hovingh had been called to the woods in Gore Bay, Ont., after a complaint about a man squatting on another person’s property.

April 2020: RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson was killed in the line of duty during the Nova Scotia mass shooting. She was a 23-year member of the RCMP and a mother of two, and police said the shooter killed 22 people before he was fatally shot by police.

Aug. 10, 2018: Fredericton police constables Robb Costello and Sara Burns were killed in a shooting at a Fredericton apartment complex. Civilians Bobbie Lee Wright and Donnie Robichaud were also killed in the shooting, and the suspect was charged with four counts of first-degree murder but found not criminally responsible in 2020.

Sept. 12, 2017: RCMP Const. Frank Deschenes of the Nova Scotia RCMP was killed in a collision in New Brunswick after stopping to help motorists change a flat tire. The crash happened near Memramcook when a cargo van plowed into his cruiser as he assisted two occupants of an SUV.

March 6, 2017: RCMP Const. Richer E.-S. Dubuc died after a crash between his RCMP vehicle and a farm tractor. The RCMP said he died while responding to a call about an illegal border crossing.

The Canadian Press