FOG BLOG CANADA LOG: PROCESSION OF PUBLIC & POLICE FOR OPP OFFICER GREG PIERZCHALA SHOT DEAD!

Police officers, members of the public attend procession for OPP officer shot dead Hundreds of first responders and members of the public turned out for a procession to pay tribute to a slain Ontario Provincial Police officer on Friday, as calls grew for the federal government to reform its bail policy.

The procession carrying 28-year-old Const. Greg Pierzchala’s body started at the coroner’s office in Toronto and ended in his hometown of Barrie, Ont. about an hour later.

Police officers and other first responders lined up outside the coroner’s office to salute Pierzchala as the procession started.

Hundreds of people — some civilians, some in uniform — packed onto overpasses along the Highway 400, raising their hands as a sign of respect, as the hearse and police cars with flashing lights passed by. Dozens of officers, including Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Thomas Carrique, were at the funeral home in Barrie when the procession arrived and a number of officers carried Pierzchala’s coffin inside as their colleagues saluted him.

Police have said Pierzchala was shot dead in an “ambush” attack earlier this week after he responded to a call for a vehicle in a ditch west of Hagersville, Ont.

Pierzchala had been with the OPP for just over a year and he had been notified that he had passed his 10-month probation period hours before his death. He was previously a special constable at Queen’s Park who, as a boy, dreamt of joining the police ranks.

Carrique has said Pierzchala gained his colleagues’ respect during his short time on the force.

“They knew they could rely upon him in the most dangerous and stressful of situations,” he said at a news conference this week.

Insp. Phil Carter, the OPP’s detachment commander for Haldimand County, has called Pierzchala’s death a “crushing loss.”

“It has been unimaginable and heartbreaking loss for our officers that worked alongside provincial Const. Greg Pierzchala. He was a son, a brother and a friend,” he said at a news conference.

“He is no longer with us and that hurts.”