Gunfight in Ontario: Veteran police officer dies, suspect shot during gun battle

An Ontario Provincial Police officer who was shot in what's being described as a gun battle Monday morning near London, Ontario, died Monday afternoon.

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino confirmed the news to Global News late Monday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, he identified the officer as Const. Vu Pham, 37 — a 15-year veteran of the OPP.

"He was critically shot by the suspect and immediately incapacitated," Fantino said.

He said it's believed the suspect — who was apprehended near the crime scene — is in his 70s. The suspect's condition was not known.

Fantino said Pham, a father of three, was responding to a call when the shooting took place near Seaforth, Ont. He said Pham was attempting to stop a vehicle at the time.

"Nothing fancy about it — just attempting to do his job," he said.

Pham becomes the 104th OPP officer killed in the line of duty — and the 24th to be shot — in the 101-year history of the police service, according to statistics provided earlier in the day by Fantino.

According to radio station CKNX, it's believed the officer was shot in the head, and that there was an exchange of up to 15 shots across a rural road.

Fantino said that since the Special Investigations Unit "has invoked its mandate...as a result I am not in a position to enter into details on the investigation."

The Special Investigations Unit is an arm's-length agency that investigates incidents involving police which end in death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault. SIU spokeswoman Monica Hudon said her agency has sent nine investigators to the scene.

She said the SIU was informed by the OPP that the suspect was shot shortly after the incident.

"The Ontario Provincial Police said that at about 11.00 AM the officers became involved in a standoff with a man at 82352 North Line."

She said the suspect was airlifted to London's Victoria Hospital.

The officer was also taken to hospital in London.

Before that, one of the shooting victims was treated at the local hospital in Seaforth.

"We had one patient brought in who was stabilized and transferred to London," said Mary Cardinal, site administrator at Seaforth hospital.

Cardinal could not say whether it was the police officer or the suspect, but said the nature of the injury was a "gunshot wound" without specifying how many times the person was shot.

Fantino said Pham was born in Saigon and joined the force in 1995. Serving with the Huron County OPP, he had served earlier in Cochrane and Parry Sound.

Pham is survived by a wife, Heather, and children Tyler, 12, Jordan, 10, and Joshua, 7.

"I believe I speak on behalf of the OPP family that our thoughts and wishes are with Pham and his family," said Fantino.

Huron County OPP are handling the investigation along with the criminal investigation branch.

Huron County, about 100 kilometres north of London, describes itself as the most agriculturally productive county in Ontario.

With files from Global News