FOG BLOG JUSTICE LOG: SHOOTERS OF OPP CONSTABLE NEAR BRANTFORD ON. CHARGED WITH 1ST DEGREE MURDER!

Man and woman charged with 1st-degree murder in shooting of OPP officer near Brantford Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala, 28, learned Tuesday he had passed probation, 'paid the ultimate sacrifice' Two people accused of killing a provincial police officer near Brantford, Ont., were formally charged Wednesday with first-degree murder, a day after the shooting.

Randall McKenzie, 25, and Brandi Stewart-Sperry, 30, who have been in custody since their arrest, appeared at the Ontario Court of Justice in Cayuga via video link and are scheduled for their next hearing on Jan. 17.

Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala of Ontario Provincial Police's Haldimand County detachment was shot just after 2:30 p.m. ET Tuesday while responding to a vehicle in a ditch just west of Hagersville, about 45 kilometres southwest of Hamilton, according to OPP.

Pierzchala was killed the same day he learned he had passed his 10-month probation period and was granted the ability to patrol independently, according to OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique.

Officer had been in Armed Forces

Carrique said Pierzchala was patrolling independently at the time he was "tragically killed." The 28-year-old officer was previously a special constable at Queen's Park and had been with the provincial police force for just over a year, Carrique said.

Before that, the "exemplary" police officer served in the Canadian Armed Forces.

"This is a man who, at five years old, decided he wanted to be a police officer," said Carrique. "He had a brief opportunity to live out his dream … unfortunately, he paid the ultimate sacrifice."

| Ontario community 'deeply grieving' over killing of OPP constable: