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(Posted
8 a.m., March 4)
Orléans-area
high school grad killed while on duty in Northern Quebec
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
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Garneau high school grad Steve Dery was killed
while on duty in the northern Quebec community
of Kuujjuaq. Family handout
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Friends
and family of Orléans-area high school grad Steve
Dery are grieving his death after he was killed in the
line of duty while serving on a regional police force
in the far north of Quebec.
Dery,
27, was responding to a domestic disturbance call in Kuujjuaq,
Quebec when he and his partner were fired upon after getting
out of their patrol car.
The
two men were taken to hospital where Dery died from his
wounds. His partner is still listed in critical, but stable
condition.
The
disturbance turned into a 17-hour standoff between members
of the Kativik Regional Police Force, the Surété
du Quebec and a 17-year-old male suspect who barricaded
himself in the house. Police eventually gained access
to the home where they found the deceased man who apparently
shot himself.
The
Kativik Regional Police Force was created in 1996 to serve
communities in Nunavik, which comprises the northern third
of the province. Kuujjuaq, the largest Inuit community
in the region, is located about 1,600 kilometres northeast
of Montreal.
Dery’s
cousin, Hélène Sauvageau, who was acting
as a spokesperson for the family, described him as "a
good man with a big heart".
“We
all loved Steve. It’s a shock,” Sauvageau told
the Ottawa Sun. “Steve was the nicest guy.”
Speaking
from Quebec City, Sauvageau said funeral plans have not
been made yet.
A
book of condolences has been set up on the Ottawa Ctiizen
obituary page. One of the first posts was from Prime Minister
Stephen Harper who wrote, "My condolences to the
friends and family of Steve Dery, the young police officer
who lost his life in the line of duty in Kuujjuaq."
Dery
attended Ecole secondaire catholique Garneau and was a
member of the Gloucester Griffins lacrosse club. He is
survived by his brothers Ben and Mathieu, his father Gilles
and mother Celine.
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