Two people have been charged with first-degree murder after an Ontario Provincial Police officer was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Constable Grzegorz Pierzchala was shot and killed while responding to a vehicle in a ditch near Hagersville in southern Ontario, the PPO said in a press release.
Constable Pearsala, 28, was injured and rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Hours earlier, he learned that he had successfully completed his 10-month probationary period as an officer with the Ontario Provincial Police. Hours before his death he conducted his first solo patrol. OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrick confirmed that Crescorse Pearsala was alone when he responded to the call.
The suspects, a 25-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman, were arraigned in Cayuga court on Wednesday.
Randall Mckenzie, 25, and Brandi Stewart-Sperry, 30, are each charged with one count of first-degree murder.
Both of them will appear in court on January 17.
Grzegorz Pierzchala is the fourth police officer killed in Ontario since September. On September 12, an officer died in Mississauga. Two others died in a shooting in Innisville on Oct. 11, an hour from Toronto.
