Veteran OPP officer killed in shooting on Manitoulin Island

SIU to probe shooting incident after reports of ‘unwanted man’ on private property on island

Const. Marc Hovingh and a civilian are dead after police responded to call in tiny town where crime is ‘the farthest thing from our minds,’

A 28-year veteran of the Ontario Provincial Police, Const. Marc Hovingh, and

civilian have died in a shooting on Manitoulin Island, the police force confirmed Thursday.

The incident happened Thursday afternoon, when officers were called to a property in a sparsely populated corner of Manitoulin Island, northeast of the tiny town of Gore Bay.

“There are two lookouts where you can view the town of Gore Bay over cliffs. It’s

spot where tourists head out to get a really good bird’s eye view of the island,” said Bill Concannon, a resident of Gore Bay who runs a Facebook group for residents of the island.

“This time of year, there wouldn’t be very much traffic going up and down that road at all,” he said.

It made the sight of police vehicles flooding to the area, first one or two, then as many as 10, according to different neighbours’ reports, all the more unnerving. Major crime is “the farthest thing from our minds,” Concannon said of the community.

Hovingh, 53, leaves behind a wife and four children, according to the Ontario Provincial Police Association.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Provincial Constable Hovingh’s family and colleagues at this difficult time,” OP

PA president Rob Jamieson said.

According to the OPP, officers with the Little Current Detachment went to a property near Gore Bay in response to a complaint of an “unwanted man.”

That’s where Hovingh was shot and killed and the man was also shot. The civilian was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police have not released his name, citing the need to first contact the next of kin.

The Special Investigations Unit, an independent body that deals with deaths and other serious incidents involving police, is investigating.

Tributes to Hovingh have begun to pour in on a community Facebook page. Neighbours who didn’t know him directly said they knew him to be wellregarded in the community.

OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique tweeted Thursday that Hovingh had served with the OPP for 28 years.

Manitoulin Island, located on Lake Huron’s north end near Sudbury, is home to about 14,000 people. The detachment in Little Current, on the east side of the island, opened in August.

Killings of on-duty police officers are rare, but happen every year in Canada. According to the Police and Peace Officers Memorial, a non-profit group, three to five officers die every year in Canada.

In July, off-duty RCMP officer Allan Young died in Nelson, B.C., after attempting to intervene in an altercation. Const. Heidi Stevenson was killed on duty during the Nova Scotia mass shooting event on April 19.