A look at some Canadian police officers who died on the job over the years

A Toronto police officer was shot dead Thursday morning while carrying out what the police union called a “high-risk takedown” at an apartment building in the city’s northwest. The death of Const. Marc Pinizzotto set off an outpouring of grief from politicians and law enforcement, who said it’s a grim reminder of the dangers police officers face.

Here are some of the other Canadian police officers who have died on the job in recent years:

Ontario Provincial Police Const. Tarun Bali 

Bali, 29, was killed in Hearst, Ont., on June 9 while attempting to stop a vehicle. 

OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique alleged that an 18-year-old who had escaped from a hospital was driving the vehicle when Bali was struck. The suspect was charged with first-degree murder and other offences.

Bali had been with the OPP for 2 1/2 years and was assigned to the Dufferin detachment, but had volunteered for deployment with the James Bay detachment.

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OPP Sgt. Brandon Malcolm

Malcolm was killed in a motorcycle crash on Highway 401 in Cobourg, east of Toronto on April 27.

Police said at the time that no other vehicle was believed to have been involved in the crash.

The 33-year-old had joined the OPP in 2020 and served on its precision motorcycle team, the Golden Helmets.

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Quebec provincial police Sgt. Maureen Breau

Breau, 42, was fatally stabbed while serving an arrest warrant on March 27, 2023, in Louiseville, Que., northeast of Montreal.

She was a 20-year veteran of the provincial police and her husband was also a provincial police officer.

The man accused in her killing was shot dead by police.

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Edmonton police constables Travis Jordan and Brett Ryan

Jordan, 35, was shot and killed while responding to a family dispute at an apartment complex in Edmonton on March 16, 2023.

Const. Brett Ryan, 30, was also killed after the two officers entered the building in the city’s northwest.

Police said the 16-year-old shooter later killed himself and wounded his mother during a struggle for the gun.

Jordan had come to Edmonton from Nova Scotia to pursue his dream of becoming an officer.

Ryan had joined the Edmonton Police Service after working as a paramedic.

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OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller

Mueller, 42, was killed while responding to a call about a disturbance in Bourget, Ont. Two other officers were hurt.

Ontario’s police watchdog said Mueller died in hospital after he and two other OPP officers were “ambushed” and shot.

A 39-year-old Bourget resident was found guilty last year of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.

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Ridge Meadows RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien

O’Brien was shot dead in Coquitlam, B.C., on Sept. 22, 2023, while he and other police officers were trying to carry out a search.

The father of six was 51 at the time. 

Police have said that O’Brien came to the Mounties late in life, joining in 2016 after a career of working with at-risk children.

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OPP Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala

Pierzchala, 28, was responding to a call for a vehicle in a ditch west of Hagersville, Ont., on Dec. 27, 2022, and was fatally shot in an ambush when he arrived, police said.

He had been with the force for about a year and had been notified that he had passed his 10-month probation period hours before he died.

Last year, two people were found guilty of first-degree murder in his death and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

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RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang

Yang, 31, was fatally stabbed on Oct. 18, 2022 when she tried to speak to a man sheltering in a tent in Broadview Park in Burnaby, B.C.

Police said Yang was partnered with a city employee when an altercation broke out and she was stabbed.

The man accused in the stabbing was found mentally unfit to stand trial earlier this year.

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South Simcoe Police Service Const. Devon Northrup and Const. Morgan Russell

The South Simcoe Police Service constables were killed on Oct. 11, 2022, after they responded to a disturbance call at an Innisfil, Ont., home.

The Special Investigations Unit, the province’s police watchdog, has said neither officer drew their guns before they were shot. The agency has said a 22-year-old man at the home shot the two officers and also died in the shooting.

Northup, 33, was remembered by his colleagues as a funny, kind and dedicated officer who served as a member of the mental health crisis outreach team.

Colleagues said Russell, 54, passed over promotions and delayed his retirement to keep working in a community he served for 33 years.

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Toronto police Const. Andrew Hong

Police have said Hong, 48, was shot in an ambush on Sept. 12, 2022, at a Mississauga, Ont., Tim Hortons while he was getting coffee for his colleagues on a lunch break.

Many people who spoke at his funeral said the fact that the father of two was on a coffee run was indicative of his generosity.

Investigators have said the man who killed Hong later shot three people at an auto body shop — killing two and injuring one — before being killed by police.

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OPP Const. Marc Hovingh 

Hovingh died on Nov. 19, 2020, after being shot in an exchange of gunfire on Manitoulin Island. 

He had been an OPP member for 28 years.

The Special Investigations Unit said at the time that Hovingh had been called to the woods in Gore Bay, Ont., following a complaint of a man squatting on another person’s property. 

The SIU said a 60-year-old man also died in the gunfire exchange. 

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RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson

Stevenson was killed in the line of duty during the April 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting. 

She was a 23-year member of the RCMP and a mother of two.

Police said the shooter, Gabriel Wortman, at one point wore a police uniform and drove a mock-up cruiser during the killing spree.

The gunman killed 22 people before he was fatally shot by police.

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Fredericton police constables Robb Costello and Sara Burns

Costello and Burns were killed in a shooting at a Fredericton apartment complex on Aug. 10, 2018.

The same shooting also killed civilians Bobbie Lee Wright and Donnie Robichaud.

The suspect in the shooting was charged with four counts of first-degree murder but found not criminally responsible in 2020.

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RCMP Const. Frank Deschenes 

Deschenes, of the Nova Scotia RCMP, was killed on Sept. 12, 2017 in a collision in New Brunswick after stopping to help motorists change a flat tire.

The crash happened near Memramcook when a cargo van plowed into his cruiser as he assisted two occupants of an SUV.

Deschenes was 35 years old and originally from northwest New Brunswick.

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RCMP Const. Richer E.-S. Dubuc

Dubuc died on March 6, 2017 after a crash between his RCMP vehicle and a farm tractor.

He was 42, a married father of four, and was from Joliette, Que. 

The RCMP said he died while responding to a call about an illegal border crossing.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2026.

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