A municipal police officer from the Quebec town of Bromont is dead after being hit by a truck.
Vincent Roy, 37, was new to the force in his home town of Bromont. Roy is survived by his wife and a 10-year-old-son and eight-year-old daughter had just returned from serving 18 months in Alberta with the RCMP.
The accident occurred at 11:30 a.m. Thursday on Highway 139 just after the officer had stopped a vehicle about 100 kilometres east of Montreal.
As the officer was returning to his patrol car, a white cube van left its lane, hit the patrol vehicle and then the driver rammed her vehicle into the officer.
Quebec provincial police say the officer died at the scene and that investigators don't believe alcohol and speed were factors in the accident.
The provincial police took over from the force for 24 hours as the small force coped with the tragedy.
The SQ is conducting an investigation.
"We're still conducting interviews, we want to know what happened," said spokesman Louis-Philippe Ruel. "If some witnesses can help us, that's something we're looking for to shed light on this to make sure that this kind of thing doesn't happen again."
"It seemed that the truck actually left its lane, went onto the shoulder of the road. this is where the first impact happened. the impact with the patrol car," said Ruel.
Bromont's acting mayor also expressed her sadness concerning the incident.
"We'll think of them through the holiday season," said Marie-Claude Cabana. "We're sensitive to the fact that ti's terrible to lose a loved one, especially at this time of the year."
Bromont is a fast-growing town of 6,000 residents about 85 kilometers east of downtown Montreal.
The upcoming provincial Bill 31 would replace the municipality's police force with officers from the provincial police Surete de Quebec.
A funeral will be held for Roy next weekend and is expected to attracted police representatives from across the country, including former RCMP colleagues in Alberta.
