Funeral of OPP officer set for Jan. 4, with procession scheduled for Friday

First responders will escort the body of Grzegorz “Greg” Pierzchala on Friday, as the province and the Ontario Provincial Police service mourn the officer who was fatally shot this week.

Pierzchala, 28, was killed on Tuesday while responding to a report of a vehicle in a ditch. He had passed his probation just hours earlier, marking a milestone for the young man who decided at age five that he wanted to be a police officer.

The procession will leave the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto at 9 a.m. and make its way north on Highway 400 to Barrie, according to a Thursday OPP news release. A police funeral will be held in Barrie on Wednesday, Jan. 4. More details are expected after they’ve been finalized.

Pierzchala was a member of the Haldimand detachment of the OPP. He was shot on the afternoon of Dec. 27, after responding to a call about a vehicle in a ditch on Indian Line at Concession 14 Walpole, at the border of Haldimand County and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

He later died in hospital.

Randall McKenzie, 25, and Brandi Crystal Lyn Stewart-Sperry, 30, have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with his death. They each made a brief court appearance in Cayuga on Wednesday.

Around the community of Haldimand County, the grieving process has been underway.

Blue lights and blue and black bows made by a Hagersville and District Chamber of Commerce volunteer were on display this week to honour Pierzchala.

And as Ontarians, public figures and politicians across Canada took to social media to offer condolences, the Hyslop family in Caledonia began collecting tributes to Pierzchala for the Haldimand detachment.

One is a painting of a big rainbow. Another is covered with hearts. Five-year-old Harper Hyslop even included created a self-portrait with a police officer, with the message “Police keep us safe” written above.

Harper said she was showing support for the police “because they help us. They protect us.”

While the OPP has invited first responders and members of the public to view the procession from highway overpasses on Friday, it requests that people not stop on the road and exit vehicles, due to safety risks.

Pierzchala is the fourth Ontario police officer to be shot dead since September. In October, the funeral for two other fallen officers, Const. Morgan Russell and Const. Devon Northrup, was also held in Barrie and drew hundreds of attendees. The officers were killed responding to a domestic disturbance call near Innisfil.

During a Wednesday night press conference, OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique offered a glimpse into the circumstances that led to Pierzchala’s death. Carrique said that the new constable Pierzchala, who hadn’t discharged his weapon, was “essentially ambushed” in a situation where he “stood absolutely no chance of being able to defend himself.”

The motive and timing of the slaying are all under investigation, Carrique said.

The commissioner added that he was “outraged” by the fact that McKenzie — who had been charged with several violent offences in late 2021 — had been out on bail.

Court documents obtained by The Hamilton Spectator show McKenzie has been free since late June — about six months after he was charged with offences related to an alleged domestic-violence incident in Hamilton.

Hamilton police arrested McKenzie in early December 2021, charging him with 12 assault- and firearm-related offences, according to the documents.

Three of the charges were for alleged assaults against three people — one of whom was a peace officer, court records show. Four other charges were related to the illegal possession of an unlicensed handgun.

McKenzie was denied bail as he awaited trial in Hamilton, documents show.

But after the decision was reviewed, McKenzie was granted bail in June, provided that he wear a GPS monitor, report to police twice weekly, live with his surety and not possess any weapons. He was only allowed to leave his home with his surety for medical emergencies, to attend meetings with his lawyer or attend counselling.

After McKenzie failed to show up in court in August, a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to documents. He has not appeared in relation to that case, records show. The documents do not give the reasons for the bail decisions.

According to a 2021 parole report, McKenzie is from the Onondaga First Nations of the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. At that time, he was serving a nearly three-year sentence after he robbed a restaurant at gunpoint then stole the owner’s vehicle in 2017, before turning himself in a month later, the document shows.

In a written statement to The Canadian Press, McKenzie’s family expressed their condolences to Pierzchala’s family.

“We wish them healing and peace,” the statement said.

With files from The Hamilton Spectator and The Canadian Press

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