Two people have been charged with first degree murder after an Ontario Provincial Police officer was fatally shot on Tuesday afternoon.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Constable Grzegorz Pierzchala was about to respond to a vehicle in the ditch near Hagersville in southern Ontario when he was shot, police said. PPO in a press release.
Constable Pierzchala, 28, was taken to hospital injured and was pronounced dead a short time later.
Only hours before his death, he learned that he had successfully completed his 10-month probationary period as an OPP officer. He went on his first solo patrol hours before he was killed. OPP commissioner Thomas Carrique confirmed that Grzegorz Pierzchala was alone when he answered the call.
The two suspects, a 25-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman appeared in court in Cayuga on Wednesday.
Randall Mckenzie, 25, Brandi Stewart-Sperry, 30, have each been charged with one count of first degree murder.
They are both due in court on January 17.
Grzegorz Pierzchala is the fourth police officer to be shot since September in Ontario. An officer lost his life on September 12 in Mississauga. Two others also died by gunshot on October 11 in Innisfil, an hour from Toronto.