Thierry Leroux identified as police officer killed in line of duty in Quebec | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Thierry Leroux identified as police officer killed in line of duty in Quebec

Thierry Leroux is shown in a photo from the Facebook page of his friend Simon Villeneuve. Quebec provincial police have identified the police officer who was fatally shot in the line of duty in Lac-Simon on Saturday night as 26-year-old Thierry Leroux. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Facebook
Original Publication Date February 14, 2016 - 8:00 AM

LAC-SIMON, Que. - Quebec's political leaders were expressing their condolences to the family of a police officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty Saturday.

Thierry Leroux, a 26-year old who had been with the local force in the tiny community of Lac-Simon for six months died after he and another officer responded to a domestic call in this community near Val d'Or, about 500 kilometres from Montreal in the province's Abitibi region, Quebec provincial police said Sunday.

"When they arrived on the scene, at least one shot was fired in their direction," said provincial police Sgt. Claude Denis. "According to the first element of the investigation, it was not possible for them to react."

Another person was pronounced dead inside the home, and police have said they believe he may have shot himself.

Sgt. Benoit Coutu of the provincial police identified him as Anthony Raymond Papatie, 22, a resident of Lac-Simon. Coutu could not confirm whether Papatie lived at the home where the incident occurred.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard expressed his condolences to the families of both victims on Twitter, and Parti Quebecois leader Pierre Karl Peladeau issued a statement offering his sympathies to Leroux's colleagues and loved ones.

Couillard's Twitter message said aboriginal affairs minister Geoffrey Kelley was in contact with community leaders.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees said in a statement that Leroux was a native of Lac St-Jean, Quebec, and had been a member of the local Lac-Simon police force since August, employed by the Anishnabe Nation Tribal Council.

"We are shaken by this horrible news," spokesman Stephane Lachance wrote. "We offer our most sincere condolences to Thierry's family and loved ones."

Investigators said officers did not return fire, and that a second officer was taken to hospital.

The union's statement said the second officer was treated for shock.

The province's Ministry of Public Safety and provincial police are investigating.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version had a wrong location for Lac-Simon

News from © The Canadian Press, 2016
The Canadian Press

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