Officer Deaths Surge in Canada—‘We Have Never Seen This Before,' Says Police Association Head

Sgt. Eric Mueller was killed responding to a report of a gunshot in Bourget, Ont., on May 11, 2023. Ontario Provincial Police

Nine officers have been murdered in Canada since September 2022, the latest of which was Ontario’s Sgt. Eric Mueller, who was ambushed during a house call on May 11.

“It’s as if there is an actual attack on the policing community,” Matthew Cox, president of the Ottawa Police Association, told The Epoch Times. “We have never seen this before in Canada.”

He said members of his association have told him they are scared to go to work right now.

“I think that the government needs to get itself involved and start toughening up on the crime bills,” Cox said.

He said a decrease in respect for police has also contributed to the problem.

Recent Deaths

Mueller, 39, responded to a disturbance at a house in Bourget, Ont., east of Ottawa about 2 a.m. on May 11. He was with three other officers, all of whom were shot in what the police have called an “ambush.” The other two officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries. A suspect has been charged with first-degree murder.

Quebec provincial officer Sgt. Maureen Breau, 42, was stabbed to death trying to arrest a suspect in Louiseville, Que., on March 27. She was a mother of two and was only four days away from starting a new job as an investigator.

Edmonton officers Const. Travis Jordan, 35, and Const. Brett Ryan, 30, were shot and killed by a 16-year-old boy when responding to a family dispute on March 16. The boy shot and killed himself afterward. Ryan was expecting his first child.

Ontario provincial officer Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala, 28, was fatally shot on Dec. 27 while responding to a call about a vehicle in a ditch. Two suspects have been charged with first-degree murder; one of them was out on bail at the time of the shooting.

RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang, 31, was fatally stabbed in Burnaby, B.C., trying to issue an eviction notice to a man living in a tent in a local park. The man has been charged with first-degree murder.

South Simcoe Police Service constables Devon Northrup, 33, and Morgan Russell, 54, were shot and killed by a 22-year-old man on Oct. 11 when they responded to a disturbance call at a home in Innisfil, Ont.

The man wore a ballistic vest and “waited in ambush” for the officers, Ontario’s police watchdog said. The suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Const. Andrew Hong, 48, was also ambushed and shot to death. He was getting coffee for his colleagues at a Tim Horton’s in Mississauga, Ont., while on break on Sept. 12. Investigators say the man who killed him later shot three others, two of whom died, before police killed him.

More Officers Needed, Say Associations

The way to make officers safer immediately is to hire more police, Cox said. Toronto Police Association President Jon Reid also told The Epoch Times in February the officers are stretched too thin, making it hard to prevent or deal with the recent wave of violent attacks in the city.

While the city approved a police budget increase of almost $50 million on Feb. 15, Reid said it will still fall far short of what’s needed.

Cox said the availability of guns is a big problem. The majority of guns used in crimes in Canada are illegally trafficked across the border from the United States. “The U.S. guns are a huge problem,” Reid also said. “It’s upwards of almost 80 percent of the firearms being seized here in Toronto.”

In January, several police associations in Ontario said they would work together to find the root causes of the “wave of violence” against police officers.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.