Ottawa police chief Vern White is offering his condolences to the family of a fallen Toronto police officer and his colleagues.
Ottawa police know all too well what it feels like to lose one of their own. Thirteen months ago, Const. Eric Czapnik was stabbed to death while he filled out paperwork in his vehicle at the Ottawa Hospital's civic campus.
"I know it's got to be difficult today and over the next week, dealing with this – a real tragedy and a senseless death," White told CTV Ottawa on Wednesday.
Sgt. Ryan Russell, 35, was killed Wednesday morning in Toronto when he tried to stop a suspect driving a stolen, privately-owned snowplow.
The suspect was driving erratically. As the police officer tried to intervene, he was struck and pinned against his cruiser. Russell leaves behind a wife and two-year-old son.
One year ago, Ottawa police dealt with a similar loss – a senseless killing that left an officer dead. White says every time a police officer dies, it reminds the public of the risks officers take every day.
"We're lucky we live in a country where police officer deaths aren't at the same level as other countries.
"But each and every one of them have an impact on all of us and remind us that as most of us are going to bed at night safely, that we have people going out on the streets and putting their lives in danger," White said.
