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The rifle seized from the home of accused cop killer Alain Bellefeuille was lawfully owned, and he called 911 to report shots fired after people entered his home with flashlights around 2 a.m. on May 11, according to his lawyer.
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Three Ontario Provincial Police officers were responding to a 911 call on Laval Street in Bourget from a neighbour who said they thought they heard a gunshot.
One or more OPP officers are believed to have entered the home. All three responding officers were shot.
One of the officers discharged their firearm and the Special Investigations Unit, Ontario’s police watchdog, is investigating.
Sgt. Eric Mueller was killed in the incident and the two other officers were injured. Bellefeuille has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Mueller, as well as two counts of attempted murder.
Hours after the shootings, and before forensics were complete, OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said at a televised press conference the officers were ambushed and shot.
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Bellefeuille, 39, says the police narrative is way off and that it was anything but an ambush.
“This was not an ambush,” his lawyers John Hale and Cassandra Richards said on his behalf last week.
Bellefeuille’s lawyers firmly believe the OPP commissioner’s comments may taint the potential jury pool and thwart the accused killer’s right to a fair trial.
“We trust that the public — including potential jurors — will remain open to the possibility of an alternate account of events,” the lawyers said in a statement.
Bellefeuille neither requested nor expected the police to show up at his home in the middle of the night, his lawyers said.
He had worked a full day in Orléans doing drywall and painting, and had just gone to bed.
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The lights were off and he was falling asleep when one or more officers entered his home, according to the statement.
Bellefeuille was arrested and later housed in solitary confinement. He remains in jail awaiting trial. He lived with a chocolate lab named Phoenix, who was brought to the Humane Society after his arrest and put up for adoption.
The OPP commissioner also told reporters that a long arm had been found at the crime scene but gave no other details.
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Accused killer of Sgt. Eric Mueller says it wasn’t an ambush
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Provincial watchdog investigating police discharge of firearm during shootings in Bourget
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