'Very scary': Neighbour in Bourget, Ont. describes hearing shooting that killed OPP officer

Witness describes shooting in Bourget, Ont. Bourget, Ont. resident Jennifer Maynard speaks with CTV News Ottawa about the shooting that killed an OPP officer on Thursday.

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC DETAILS

A Bourget, Ont. woman is sharing details of a shooting in the small village east of Ottawa that left one Ontario Provincial Police officer dead and two others injured, saying she heard multiple shots several times and yelling at the property next door.

"I saw a vehicle go past the house, past the treeline and a couple of minutes later the event was just set off," Jennifer Maynard tells CTV News Ottawa. "You just heard the gunfire."

OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller died in hospital following the shooting early Thursday morning at a home on Laval Street in Bourget.  Two other officers were treated for injuries.

OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said officers were responding to a call reporting gunshots in the neighbourhood.

Maynard, who lives next door to where the shooting occurred, says she woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a police cruiser going through an intersection.  She says she didn't hear any gunshots before the OPP officers arrived at the home.

"I was going back to bed, that was when the first initial shots were fired," Maynard said Friday morning.

"There was quiet until the gunshots going off, and I wasn't even positive it was gunshots. I was hoping fireworks, something else – there's hunters in the area," Maynard said.

"I woke up my husband and said, 'I'm positive I just heard gunshots.' But there's no yelling, there was nothing until after the initial gunshots went off. "

Maynard says she then heard multiple gunshots over the next several minutes.

"It was a couple of different times of multiple shots; so gunshots, yelling direction and then more gunshots," Maynard said. "Near the end of the event, there was one single last gunshot where I heard, I'm going to assume, an officer yell out 'shots fired.'"

Helicopter footage captured on Thursday showed several OPP vehicles parked at the home where the shooting occurred, including a police SUV with the door open and what appeared to be bullet holes in the windshield.

"It was a quick event; it was very intense, it was very scary," Maynard said.

"It's a very safe community but that was a very scary evening for us. We have two children, it is our home – you know, our safety was definitely a concern during this event because it was so close. It was traumatic to know that these officers were being injured and killed in such a way that doesn't make any sense."

Carrique said Thursday that officers responding to assist their injured colleagues arrested a suspect.

Court documents show Alain Bellefeuille, 39-years-old of Bourget, Ont., is charged with one count of first-degree murder in the death of Sgt. Mueller, and two counts of attempted murder.

Maynard says she has never heard Bellefeuille's name and not interacted with the individual at the home on Laval Street.

"No idea, I've never heard the name. I have no idea who this person is. I have never, ever seen or heard of this person," Maynard said. "I knew the house is there; never gone past the house, never gone near the house, never saw any activity near the house."

Investigators continued to search the property in Bourget on Friday as the investigation continued into the shooting. Several officers were seen at the property through the day, while police continued to close a section of Laval Street in front of the home.

Flags are flying at half-mast at the Rockland City Hall, and a book of condolences will be available for residents to sign in memory of Sgt. Mueller on Saturday.

"It's heart-wrenching. Nobody should go to work…and not go home after it," an emotional Maynard said.

"These first responders, these police officers put their lives on the line every single day and they do it…they do it knowingly and willingly and I thank them very much for that. Our communities are safer because of them."

Maynard adds, "I feel so much for that officer who passed away and lost his life."

Bourget is a community of 1,200 people, and is part of the city of Clarence-Rockland.

"We all have the right to live in a safe community; we all want to know that our communities are safe, that we can live in with our children and our families and our loved ones," Maynard said.

"That shouldn't be taken away from us. I don't feel like this isolated event should do this to Bourget.

"Bourget is very quiet."

The book of condolences for Sgt. Mueller will be available on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Bourget Community Centre on Lavigne Street in Bourget and at Rockland City Hall.

With files from The Canadian Press

If you need to speak with someone to discuss the shooting in Bourget, Ont., the Distress Centre of Ottawa has mental health support and resources available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can contact the Distress Centre at 613-238-3311 or online at www.dcottawa.on.ca.