OPP officer killed in Bourget, Ont. leaves behind wife and two children

Sgt. Eric Mueller, the OPP officer shot and killed in eastern Ontario on Thursday, was a husband and father of two young children and was seriously injured in the line of duty years ago while trying to make an arrest.

Mueller, 42, died on Thursday in what OPP commissioner Thomas Carrique called an "ambush” in Bourget, Ont. He and two other officers were shot while responding to a disturbance call at a home.

The OPP Association, the union that represents civilian and uniform OPP officers, said Mueller leaves behind a wife and two young children.

"We offer our deepest condolences to Sergeant Mueller's wife and two young children, to his colleagues and friends," the union said in a statement. "Eric will always be remembered for his service and sacrifice."

Several bouquets of flowers were left outside the OPP's Russell County detachment as of Friday morning, where all three officers worked. Flags are at half-mast.

Mueller was a 21-year veteran of the force who started his policing career in Ottawa.

"He is described by his colleagues as a coach, a mentor, someone that everybody looked up to, the glue that held his shift together, and the best leader that many people ever had the privilege of working for," Carrique said on Thursday. "Our hearts are broken."

Mueller started his OPP career in Ottawa in 2002 as a special constable in the force's offender transport unit.

In 2006, he was hired as a provincial constable. In 2018, he was promoted to sergeant "in recognition of his exemplary performance, his dedication to duty and his commitment to his colleagues," Carrique said.

On Thursday, Mueller and two other officers responded to a disturbance call at a home on Laval Street in Bourget, a small community east of Ottawa.

All three officers were rushed to hospital in Ottawa. Mueller died of his injuries, another officer is in hospital recovering and a third was treated and released.

Alain Bellefeuille, 39, was arrested and has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.

Flowers left outside the Russell County OPP detachment after three officers were shot in Bourget, Ont. (Natalie van Rooy/CTV News Ottawa)

MUELLER INJURED IN THE JOB IN 2008

In 2008, just two years after he became a provincial constable, Mueller was seriously injured during an attempted arrest, according to a 2010 judge's ruling.

Mueller and two other officers stopped the driver of a tractor-trailer in the Township of Edwardsburgh-Cardinal. Mueller exited his cruiser and approached the accused's truck.

The accused, who had stepped out of the truck, jumped back into his vehicle, revved his engine and sped forward. Mueller quickly ran back to his cruiser, but the truck's trailer hit him.

"The officer felt the pressure of being crushed against the cruiser and was then projected into the air, falling some distance behind his cruiser as the truck sped off," the ruling said.

Mueller suffered a broken leg and required three surgeries and months of recovery.

The driver pleaded guilty to four charges and was found guilty on two others, including criminal negligence causing bodily harm.