Ontario Provincial Police Constable Grzegorz Pierzchala is shown in this undated handout photo. Ontario Provincial Police say two suspects have been arrested after Constable Pierzchala was shot and killed while on duty near Hagersville, Ont. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, OPP *MANDATORY CREDIT*
HAGERSVILLE, Ont. – The Ontario Provincial Police officer who was fatally shot while responding to a call Tuesday was “essentially ambushed,” the commissioner of the force says.
Police say 28-year-old Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala responded to a call for a vehicle in a ditch just west of Hagersville, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon and was shot dead when he got there.
OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique says Pierzchala was at the scene for a very short period of time and stood “absolutely no chance of being able to defend himself.”
He says the ongoing police investigation into the shooting is examining the motive and circumstances behind it.
Carrique alleges the suspects robbed a citizen of their vehicle at the scene after the officer was shot.
Twenty-five-year-old Randall McKenzie and 30-year-old Brandi Crystal Lyn Stewart-Sperry are each facing a charge of first-degree murder in Pierzchala’s death.
More coming.
