Several road closures in Barrie this Thursday for funeral of 2 Ontario police officers shot dead

Several roads in Barrie, Ont., will be closed on Thursday to accommodate the funeral services for two South Simcoe police officers killed in the line of duty last week.

The private funeral for Const. Morgan Russell, 54, and Const. Devon Northrup, 33, will be held at 11 a.m.at the Sadlon Arena at 555 Bayview Dr., Barrie.

The funeral is not open to the public, but residents will be able to pay their respects along the procession route.

The procession will travel from the Adams Funeral Home and Cremation Services to the Steckley-Gooderham Funeral Homes to the Sadlon Arena, where the service will be held.

To accommodate the procession, the following road closures will go into effect at the times indicated, with an anticipated reopening time of 4 p.m.:

• Bayview Drive from Big Bay Point to Churchill Drive will be closed, commencing at 5 a.m.
• Bayview Drive from Churchill Drive to Mapleview Drive will be closed starting at 8 a.m.
• Harvie Road/Big Bay Point Road will be closed from Veterans Drive to Bayview Drive starting at 5 a.m. These roads are expected to reopen at approximately 10 a.m.: Harvie Road becomes Big Bay Point Road at Fairview Road.

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“When a tragedy like this occurs, communities come together,” said Mayor Jeff Lehman.

“We are all grieving alongside our neighbouring police service and community and are here to support them in anyway we can. The City of Barrie is honoured to provide the venue and assist with logistics so people can come together to pay respects to these two heroes.”

Constables Russell and Northrup died after responding to a call about a disturbance in Innisfil last Tuesday night.

The Special Investigations Unit, which is investigating the shooting, specified Friday that a 22-year-old man at a home shot the two officers, who died in hospital.

The two deaths this week mark three officers shot dead in Ontario in a month after the fatal shooting of Toronto Const. Andrew Hong in Mississauga in mid-September.

— with files from The Candian Press