It is with a heavy heart I bring sad news to you all this cold, winter morn. At 4:30am EST this morning an Ottawa Police officer was stabbed while sitting in his cruiser outside of the Civic campus of the Ottawa Hospital. While there are few details being released at this time, it has been reported that he was simply sitting there writing up a report when he was approached by the suspect and was stabbed without warning. Despite the proximity to the hospital, he died an hour later. The attacker was subdued and held by two nearby paramedics and a couple of bystanders until other officers could arrive. It has since been reported that the slain officer was the father of three children.

While I realize that being a police officer comes with certain inherent risks, and, tragically, there are officers killed every day in the line of duty, this is the first time an Ottawa Police officer has been killed while on duty since 1983. This is a horrible tragedy to occur at any time, but to have such a random act of violence happen during the holiday season simply makes it that much worse.

As a person with great respect for our officers (I even applied to the OPP when I was younger, but while had sufficient intellectual aptitude I lack the necessary physical qualifications) I feel a great sense of loss today. This man dedicated his life to making my city safer, and was rewarded by being cruelly cut down with no chance to defend himself.

Appreciate your families everyone. You just never know if, or when, a tragedy will befall them. I'm going to hug my children that much harder tonight, thankful that I am able to go home and do so.

Ottawa police officer killed outside hospital