Honour Roll

1985-12-27

Age: 30

At 6:00 am 2 days after Christmas Cst. Tessier of the Ottawa Detachment was driving to work in Ottawa from his home in Quebec. He was in plain clothes wearing an RCMP T-shirt under his coat. It was a cold wintry day when he stopped to assist a young man on Hwy #50 who had just put his van in the ditch. Getting into Tessier's personal vehicle the man pulled out a sawed off 22 rifle and shot him nine times then leaving his body on the Hwy, the suspect stole Tessier's car. Tessier's badge and warrant card were found laying on the floor of the car when it was recovered. What happened between the two will never be known.

The suspect stole his vehicle, committed an armed robbery and was later arrested, charged and convicted.

1985-08-03

Age: 25

Constable Campbell was on patrol in a cruiser operated by Constable W.J. O Sullivan. The officers drove eastbound on Highway 9 to assist other units involved in a high speed chase. The Constable driving made a U turn on the highway to prepare for the approaching suspect vehicle. Unknown to him at the time, the vehicle was driving westbound at a high speed with no lights on. The westbound suspect vehicle struck the cruiser on the passenger side, fatally injuring PC Campbell as well as two other passengers in the suspect vehicle.

The suspect was found to be impaired by alcohol. The Leaf D. Craig Campbell Memorial Award is granted to the top member of each recruit class. A donation is given to a charity of the recruit s choice.

1985-06-29

Age: 31

Constable McLaughlin was operating an unmarked police cruiser west on Highway 17. Constable McLaughlin pulled onto the west bound shoulder then abruptly made a U-turn. His cruiser collided with a tractor trailer also traveling westbound. His injuries were fatal.

1984-11-16

Age: 38

PC Miller of the Matheson Detachment had arrived at Joe's Texaco and was in the restaurant when a young man entered with a 12 gauge shotgun, approached Constable Miller from behind and shot and killed him. The assailant was disarmed by another Constable and a restaurant patron.

The accused was arrested at the scene, charged and convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for 25 years. The Town of Matheson renamed the local arena the Vern Miller Memorial Arena.

1984-10-09

Age: 26

At 0011 hours October 9, 1984 Constable Grant observed a vehicle being operated dangerously and gave pursuit. The pursued vehicle quickly outdistanced the officer's and under the cover of fog reversed his direction and headed back towards the officer. As the driver approached the officer, he swerved sharply crashing into Grant's vehicle killing him instantly.

A 19 year old, who had stolen his parent's vehicle while upset over an argument with his girlfriend, escaped the crash unharmed. He removed the weapon from the dead officer and fatally shot himself in a nearby field.

1984-10-07

Age: 56

On October 7, 1984 Constable Ross with other members of the Woodstock OPP, the Woodstock City Police and the No. 2 District Tactics and Rescue Unit were following up a tip that two murder suspects were at a Woodstock residence. Constable Ross and Constable R. Thompson were confronted by one of the suspects. Constable Ross was shot and killed, and Corporal R. Thompson was wounded.

The suspect who shot Constable Ross continued shooting at police and was shot dead at the scene. He was on day parole from Prison in Kingston. The second suspect held police off for 20 hours before giving himself up. He was charged and convicted, later taking his life while in prison serving a life sentence.

1984-09-18

Age: 40

On Tuesday, September 18, 1984 Constable David Dunmore was on duty with his partner, Constable Bradley Bested. An all points broadcast advised all units to look for a stolen vehicle whose occupants had threatened two persons with a gun. Constables Dunmore and Bested spotted this car in the Royal York/Queensway area and immediately took up pursuit. As the officers attempted to pull the stolen car over, the driver braked sharply forcing them to stop in front of the stolen vehicle. The suspect jumped from the car and opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon. Constable Dunmore, a front seat passenger, was fatally wounded before he had an opportunity to get out of the car. Constable Bested returned fire and the suspect fled by foot.

Several blocks away, the suspect, Gary White, was confronted by two police officers who returned his fire. Gary White was fatally wounded.

1984-08-26

Age: 24

Constable Piukkala responded to a fictitious call at a residence on August 26, 1984. As he entered the premises he was attacked and stabbed to death.

1984-08-21

Age: 49

At 2208 hours, August 19, 1984 Constable Tribbling responded to a burglar alarm at a business premise in Markham. He was found moments later by fellow officers in the building on the floor with multiple bullet wounds in his chest. He died in hospital August 21.

Constable Tribbling was the first officer of York Regional Police Force to be killed on duty since its inception in 1971. On March 23, 1988 after a lengthy investigation, Ronald Carlton York of Toronto was arrested and charged with the first degree murder of Constable Tribbling. York had an extensive record for break and enters and other theft related offences. At the time of the shooting he was out on bail for two similar offences.