Ontario police marks a century since the loss of its 1st officer
Posted May 30, 2023 3:30 pm.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is marking the 100-year anniversary of its first officer killed in the line of duty.
Sgt. John Urquhart, 33, was shot and killed on May 30, 1923, in North Bay, Ont.
Sgt. Urquhart’s killing came following a 14-day-long manhunt for 21-year-old career criminal Leo Rogers who had escaped a courthouse two weeks earlier.
Rogers fled the Nipissing District Court on May 16, 1923. He then shot and wounded North Bay Police Force Sgt. William McGovern a day later.
Rogers then fatally shot North Bay Const. Fred Lefebvre on May 18.
On May 30, 1923, #OPP Sergeant John Urquhart was killed in the line of duty. His life and sacrifice will always be remembered. #HeroesInLife pic.twitter.com/JszkwJTfPX
— Thomas Carrique (@OPPCommissioner) May 30, 2023
On May 30, Sgt. Urquhart and another police constable were approaching the rear door of a house in North Bay when Rogers fired shots through the door.
Sgt. Urquhart was killed by the gunfire, leaving behind a wife expecting the couple’s first child. He had been an officer for four years and was the OPP’s first officer killed in the line of duty since its founding in 1909.
Rogers would be killed in an exchange of gunfire one day later.
OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique honoured the force’s first fallen officer in a tweet.
“His life and sacrifice will always be remembered,” Carrique said.
Earlier this month, OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller died in hospital following a shooting at a home in Bourget, Ont.
Alain Bellefeuille, a 39-year-old Bourget resident, was charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in the case.
