Police, public gather for procession for fallen South Simcoe officers

Officers from multiple GTA police services gathered in North York on Friday morning to help bring home two South Simcoe officers shot dead in an apparent ambush earlier this week.

The bodies of Const. Devon Northrup, 33, and Const. Morgan Russell, 54, were transported from the coroner’s office, near Keele Street and Wilson Avenue, up Highway 400 to Barrie.

The procession left the Office of the Chief Coroner at 9 a.m. and travelled southbound on Keele Street, westbound on Highway 401, then northbound on Highway 400 to its destination.

Toronto Fire crews were on hand setting up a large Canadian flag beside the coroner’s office before the procession began.

Police cruisers from South Simcoe Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police and York Regional Police formed the police escort. Members of the public were encouraged to pay their respects by viewing the procession from overpasses and other safe locations. Several community members and emergency service workers could be seen on overpasses as they procession travelled the highways.

South Simcoe Police have confirmed there will be full police funeral for the two officers. The details of the service are still being finalized.

In the meantime, the town of Innisfil has invited community members to sign books of condolences for the dead constables.

Northrup was a six-year member of the service and worked with the community mobilization and engagement unit. He also served as a member of the mental health crisis outreach team and the emergency response unit.

Russell was with the force for 33 years and was a trained crisis negotiator assigned to uniform patrol.

The two officers were fatally shot on Tuesday night while responding to a disturbance call at a home in Innisfil, Ont. The SIU has confirmed the pair did not draw their firearms on the suspected gunman.

The 22-year-old gunman was also pronounced dead at the scene and investigators are still trying to determine. An autopsy for the deceased gunman is set for Friday.

The deaths of the two officers mark the third and fourth Toronto area police officers to be killed in the last month.

A Toronto Police officer was shot and killed during a shooting rampage that spanned the GTA in September. Days later, a York Regional Police officer was killed in an early morning head-on collision in Markham.