South Simcoe police honour slain constables with memorial run

In anticipation of the upcoming first anniversary of the tragic deaths of constables Morgan Russell and Devon Northrup, the South Simcoe Police Service spent Wednesday evening paying tribute to their fallen heroes.

The two officers were shot to death while responding to a disturbance call on Oct. 11, 2022.

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On Wednesday, a kick-off to the Canadian National Police and Peace Officers' Memorial 'Run to Remember' took place locally, with family and friends of the service paying tribute to the fallen officers with a run/walk.

"[We] really appreciate all the public support we have in this community, in the town of Bradford and in the town of Innisfil; you can see everybody coming together in a time like this," said Insp. Julio Fernandez. 

The event nrhsm at the South Division at 81 Melbourne Drive in Bradford at 6 p.m. A few dozen officers turned out for the 4 kilometer run. While the event was only open to officers, members of the public were waiting at the new Constable Devon Northrup Memorial Park and the Alan Kuzmich Memorial Park, named for fallen South Simcoe police officer Alan Kuzmich, who died in the line of duty more than 20 years ago.

"It's important that we all come out and support them and show them our love and respect and it's a healing process," said Bradford Mayor James Leduc who himself was cheering the officers on at one of the pitstops. "It's been a long healing process, a lot of them are still suffering so we are hearing to show our support, gather up some energy for them and hopefully they can march on and keep running."  

The event was planned one day ahead of the Canadian National Police and Peace Officers' Memorial 'Run to Remember'. Officers from across Ontario will partake in a 460-km relay journey from Toronto to Ottawa where the Canadian National Police and Peace Officers' 46th Annual Memorial Service will take place Sunday. 

Northrup participted in the national run multiple times before his ultimate passing. 

"Devon was a team captain for us for four years," said Bob Hackenbrook, the co-chair of the national run. ""We run it with the widows and family members of our fallen members. We have 13 widows that are going to be running with us tomorrow. We get our inspiration from them."