A Quebec police officer who died in the line of duty on the weekend is being remembered by friends as a go-to guy who was always ready to lend an ear.
Thierry Leroux had been working for the Lac-Simon police force, a small aboriginal community in northwestern Quebec, for only six months.
He died after he and another officer responded to a domestic call on Saturday night.
Those who knew him best are taking his death hard.
Many of the young man’s friends are expressing their grief by switching their online profile photos to a black ribbon with the Lac-Simon police force’s logo.
Simon Villeneuve, one of Leroux’s best friends, says Leroux was always there to listen when he was feeling down.
“In my heart, I lost a brother,” Villeneuve said in an email.
Also on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ghislain Picard, chief of the assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, sent condolences following up on those sent by numerous Quebec politicians and several police forces from across North America.
“Police officers risk their lives to keep us safe,” Trudeau wrote on Twitter. “My deepest condolences to the family of young Thierry Leroux.”
Picard offered condolences to the families of victims and lent his support to the mourning community.
“This tragedy reminds us once again how much distress can lead to irreparable acts,” Picard said in a statement. “We are wholeheartedly thinking about the families, police officers and the grieving communities.”
