OPP Officer Const. Vu Phamshot, Killed in Leadbury ON

[old medic]

Breaking News.
More to follow

 

[vonGarvin]

From here:

An Ontario Provincial Police officer has been shot responding to a call in Seaforth, Ont., north of London.
There were no immediate details about the injury, or the age or gender of the officer involved.
Sgt. Pierre Chamberland, a spokesman for OPP headquarters in Orillia, Ont., said the officer, who is from the Huron County detachment, was airlifted to hospital.
Reports suggested the officer exchanged several shots with an unidentified person, who was also airlifted to a medical centre.
OPP chief Julian Fantino was reported to be on his way to London

Here's hoping that the officer's wounds are neither life-threatening or with long-term ill effect.  I also hope that the person with whom gunfire was exchanges also survives, so that they may have their day in court.

And this from the ctv:

An Ontario Provincial Police officer has been shot while on a call in Seaforth, a town located just north of London, Ont. in Huron County.
There are reports the officer was shot in the head and is in grave condition. However, a spokesperson for the OPP said he can't confirm the extent of the officer's injuries.
Authorities who are in the area say a suspect has also been shot. A witness on the scene told CTV News that the officer exchanged more than a dozen shots with the suspect at around 10:30 a.m.
Both shooting victims have been rushed to a hospital in London for emergency treatment.
The officer that was shot was one of two police officers en route to the call. The shooting took place on the North Line and McKillop Township Road.
More to come…

The officer arriving in London, ON:

(Image from ctv.ca)

 

[Haggis]

Not much more from CANOE.

Best wishes for the officer's quick and full recovery.

 

[old medic]

From the London Free Press
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/03/08/13153496.html

Witness saw man, officer exchange fire
OPP to speak at press conference scheduled for 4 p.m.
By SUSAN HUNDERTMARK

SEAFORTH, Ont. — A Huron OPP officer was airlifted to London from the scene of a shooting on Huron County Road 12 north of Winthrop between Sawmill Road and Canada Company Road Monday morning at around 10:30 a.m.

Const. Aaron McPhail, media officer with the OPP Western Region, said police could only confirm that an officer was shot while responding to a call.

Bonnie Glanville, who lives on the North Line, said she was getting a glass of water and looked out the window to see a truck being pulled over by the police and thought at first she was watching someone getting a speeding ticket.

“I realized something wasn’t quite right when he quickly jumped out of the truck,” she said, adding that she then heard shots and saw the officer being shot a couple of hundred feet from her house.

Unconfirmed reports suggested the officer was shot in the head.

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino rushed to be at the officer’s side, and was expected to say more later today.

The OPP have called a 4 p.m. news conference in London.

Faith Weber, of Brussels, who was driving home from work at the time, said she was flagged down by another motorist who told her not to drive any further along County Road 12 because of a shoot-out happening further down the road.

“I got out of my car and I could see an officer on the left side of the road out in the open and a shooter lying in the ditch with a rifle on the right side and they were shooting at each other,” she said.

“You could hardly see the guy in the ditch but the officer was in a clearing with no cover.”

Weber said she thought she saw the officer being hit by a bullet when he recoiled back.

“But, he kept shooting,” she said.

Neil McGavin, of Walton, was tapping trees in a nearby sugar bush when he heard shots firing near the farm of Lorne Glanville.

“There was a lot of shooting. There must have been 20 shots. Then, I heard sirens,” he said.

OPP crime units, traffic units and a mobile command unit converged on the scene to conduct the criminal investigation. Media from throughout Southwestern Ontario also gathered in the area.

Residents in the nearby hamlet of Walton were shocked.

"People just can't believe it happening in a tiny place like this," said Ann, clerk at a country store and feed depot.

Several residents gathered in groups to talk about the shooting.

"We heard (the suspect) was pulled over and got out of his truck, grabbed a gun from the back seat and opened fire," said Darrell Dalton, 28, whose brother was cutting wood nearby at the time of the shooting.

"My brother said he heard 10-15 shots."

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit, the province’s police watchdog agency called in during cases of civilian injury or death involving the police, is “probing the circumstances,” surrounding the shooting.

Nine SIU investigators are working on the case, said spokesperson Monica Hudon.

Reading from a news release, Hudon said the SIU would only release the following information: "The OPP reported that at approximately 11 a.m., OPP officers became involved in a standoff with a man at 82352 North Line in Huron County. (The officer) was wounded and has been taken to Victoria Hospital (in London) for treatment."

She declined to comment on the condition of the officer. "I'm not even saying whether he has been shot or not," she said. "We are investigating what led to this man's injuries."

A suspect has been arrested. There is no confirmed word on his condition.

One report, also unconfirmed, described the officer as a 20-year policing veteran.

At the London Health Sciences Centre, where the injured officer was taken, OPP Const. Chris Hunter said OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino will make a statement later Monday in London.

Fantino was rushed by helicopter to the London Health Sciences Centre to be at the stricken officer's side, and was expected to also head to the shooting scene.

Mary Cardinal, administrator of Seaforth Community Hospital, said a patient from the incident was brought in mid-morning, spent an hour being stabilized and was sent to a London hospital.

Provincial police blocked off the road for most of the day during an investigation of the shooting.

 

[observor 69]

CBC NEWS


An Ontario Provincial Police officer is in critical condition after he was hit Monday morning in a shootout near Seaforth, Ont., north of London.

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino identified the wounded officer as Const. Vu Pham, 37, a 15-year member of the police force and a married father of three children.

"We hope for the best, obviously," said Fantino.

Fantino said police were called at 10:18 a.m. ET to the North Line in Huron County. When the officer attempted to stop a vehicle, he was confronted by an armed man, shot and immediately incapacitated.

"The suspect was also shot in the incident and he too is presently in hospital," said Fantino, who added that the suspect was about 70 years old.

No other police officers were injured.

Reports suggested the officer exchanged 15 to 20 shots with the unidentified man

Faith Weber, a resident of Brussels, Ont., was a witness to the shooting. She told radio station CKNX that the officer and a suspect fired at each other across a road.



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/03/08/police-shot-officer-opp-.html#ixzz0hcktbiRn

 

[vonGarvin]

The officer's name and more info:

An Ontario Provincial Police officer has been shot while on a call in Seaforth, a town located just north of London, Ont., in Huron County.
Const. Vu Pham, a 37-year-old father of three, is in critical condition, OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino told a Monday news conference in London. He didn't offer details on the officer's injuries.
Authorities who are in the area say a suspect has also been shot. There are unconfirmed reports he is in his 60s or possibly 70 years old. Fantino didn't have an exact age for the suspect.
Both shooting victims have been rushed to a hospital in London for emergency treatment.
Pham, a 15-year OPP veteran assigned to the Huron County detachment, became involved in a confrontation with the suspect after stopping his vehicle at about 10:18 a.m. Pham became "immediately incapacitated," Fantino said.
Other officers in the vicinity responded to the scene. They exchanged gunfire with the suspect. No other officers were injured. Fantino didn't know how many officers were at the scene of the confrontation. "That's all being sorted out," he said.
The OPP held an earlier media briefing at the scene. Const. Aaron MacPhail described this case being in its early stages. "As with any investigation, it's fairly complex," he said.
The OPP did stress this was an isolated incident and there is no risk to public safety.
Because a civilian was also injured in the shootout, the matter has been handed over to Ontario's Special Investigation Unit. The SIU is a government body that probes every incident in which a civilian is seriously injured while in the presence of police.
The shooting took place on the North Line and McKillop Township Road in the Ontario hamlet of Leadbury. The area is about two hours away from Toronto, or a 224-kilometre drive.
Authorities are looking to speak with witnesses to the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to call the SIU at 1-800-787-8529.
Shooting incidents involving OPP officers are relatively rare. According to the OPP honour roll, four officers have been either shot or stabbed since 1989 prior to Monday's incident, with three of those officers dying.
In comparison, 15 officers have died as a result of motor vehicle accidents, with an additional officer dying of natural causes.

 

[fire_guy686]

I just read Const. Pham has succumbed to his injuries.

RIP. 

My thoughts and prayers are with his family and the OPP

An Ontario Provincial Police veteran patroller is dead after being shot in the head after the constable had stopped the elderly driver of a pickup truck on a rural road in Huron County, north of London.

Witnesses heard at least a dozen shots being fired between police and the suspect, who was hiding in a ditch with a rifle after he had been intercepted.

Constable Vu Pham, a 37-year-old father of three, was taken to a London, Ont., hospital in critical condition after the shooting happened at 10:20 a.m. Monday. A police source confirmed Constable Pham's death late Monday afternoon.

Entire article here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/opp-officer-dies-after-shooting/article1493707/

 

[vonGarvin]

RIP to the officer, and condolences to his family, friends and collegues

 

[Crown-Loyal]

RIP

Thank you for your service

 

[medaid]

R.I.P brother...

This is a learning for all LEOs in Canada.

 

[old medic]

Community mourns devoted officer
By Jane Sims, Joe Belanger, Deb Van Brenk and Mike Kennedy
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/03/08/13160166.html

WINGHAM - Tears replaced hope.

Just as a prayer vigil Monday ended for a Huron OPP officer, members of his congregation at the Living Waters Revival Centre here found out

Const. Vu Pham had died in the line of duty.

“He was a wonderful man, a family man and it just ain’t right,” said Pauleen Kerkhof. “It’s just so wrong. We’re a small church but we’re one big family.”

Shock waves rippled through the northern Huron County town at the news the respected officer - who devoted himself to his family, community and church - had succumbed to gunshot wounds from a routine stop on a rural road earlier in the day.

Pham, 37, embraced life in small-town midwestern Ontario. He was a deacon at the church, a director of the Wingham Minor Hockey Association and a soccer coach to his three boys.

This from a man who came to Canada alone, one of the Boat People refugees from Vietnam, who escaped at the end of the tumultuous Vietnam War.

His neighbour, Lorne MacKenzie, a retired educator, said Pham’s father was an officer in the South Vietnam army and was killed.

His mother was imprisoned when the family tried to leave. Pham was able to get out and was adopted by a Pentacostal minister in northern Ontario.

In recent years, he re-connected with his mother and brother, both of whom live in California.

“I can’t imagine anyone having a bad thing to say about Vu. I’m going to miss him,” MacKenzie said.

Pham, a 15-year OPP veteran, transferred to Wingham about five years ago after five years of OPP duty in Cochrane in northern Ontario. He also served in Perry Sound.

Pastor Bob Cox of Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church in Cochrane, said Pham and his family had been faithful parishioners there. Cox remembered his friend as a quiet and grateful man.

“He was very, very strong and a solid kind of person.”

Their first of three children was born shortly before their arrival in Cochrane and quickly became part of the community, Cox said.

“They came here and connected really well,” he said.

Pham and his wife, Heather, quickly became part of Wingham, as well.

Last night, while rushing to London to be with Pham’s wife, Stephanie and Murray Houghton recalled a close, generous friend.

“He was a wonderful man, a wonderful father,” said Stephanie Houghton, through tears. “The kind of man that if you needed anything he was always there.”

She said Pham was an avid hunter and fisherman “and loved taking his kids with him.”

“We met Heather and Vu through hockey and when we met each other we just clicked. We both have three boys and we spent vacations together,” she said.

Pham was quickly embraced by many local families who met him through recreational sports.

Mike Logan, president of the Wingham Minor Hockey Association, got to know Pham through the executive and the travel Pee Wee team that both his son and Pham’s son play on.

“He’s a big supporter of Wingham minor hockey.” Logan said. “He loves the game and really loves watching his sons play.”

He said Pham was “respected” in his role as police officer.