SIU to investigate use of officer’s gun in deadly Bourget, Ont., shooting
Posted May 17, 2023 7:27 am.
Ontario’s police watchdog says it will investigate evidence suggesting an officer fired his gun during last week’s deadly incident in Bourget, Ont., east of Ottawa.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said it has invoked its mandate to investigate the police firearm discharge during a shooting that left one Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer dead and two others injured.
According to OPP, 42-year-old Sgt. Eric Mueller and two other officers were “ambushed” and shot at when they responded to a call for a disturbance at a Bourget home on May 11. Mueller died in hospital after the shooting.
Court documents show that Alain Bellefeuille, 39, has been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
Related: OPP officer dead, two others injured in ‘ambush’ shooting east of Ottawa: police
The SIU said it was notified by an OPP forensic team that one of the surviving officers may have discharged his firearm during the shooting.
The police watchdog said no one was struck when that gun was fired.
“While no one was struck as a result of the police firearm discharge, the SIU has invoked its mandate to look at that aspect of the incident. Section 16 of the Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019, provides that police firearm discharges fall within the Unit’s jurisdiction even where they do not result in injury,” the SIU said in a release.
A private funeral for Sgt. Mueller will be held on Thursday at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata. It will be attended by his family, their guests, members of the OPP, and representatives from other police services, emergency services personnel and officials.
