 |
 Fred Preston, 70, of Sundridge, Ont. |
LONDON, Ont. - The accused shooter in the slaying of Huron Ontario Provincial Police Const. Vu Pham has died in a London, Ont. hospital, just as plans were underway to bury the officer Friday.
Relatives of Fred Preston, 70, charged with first-degree murder of Pham and of attempted murder of a second officer, said late Thursday he was removed from life support. He had been in critical condition after being shot in the head during Monday's dramatic shootout in rural Huron County, Ont.
Earlier Thursday, his brother Alex Preston of Sundridge, Ont., said Preston had been "under pressure" and likely 'snapped" amid difficulties with his 52-year marriage.
Police said his brother was shot by a second officer after he allegedly killed Pham as he climbed out of his cruiser.
"His (three) daughters (were) down there with him," at his hospital bedside as the family tried to decide his fate, the 75-year-old Alex Preston said.
Alex also shed light on a number of questions swirling around the case, which is still under investigation.
|
He said Fred Preston and his wife, Barb, had an argument Saturday. He also said Barb was in North Bay, Ont. at the time of the shooting.
Preston arrived at the home of John and Marylou Driscoll, his in-laws, and broke in when he found they weren't at home, said Alex.
Preston then called his daughter in Sundridge from the Driscoll home and said something that prompted her to call police because 'she thought he was going to do something radical," Alex said.
The Free Press has also learned the officer who arrived on the scene and got into a shootout with Preston was OPP Const. Dell Wilfred Mercey.
Ontario's Special Investigations Unit, its police watchdog agency, is probing the shooting while OPP investigators continue their work.
Police can't comment on the investigation once the SIU becomes involved. The SIU released no new information Thursday, and a spokesperson said it could take a month or more before the investigation is complete and made public.
Police said Monday they were called to the North Line home in response to what sources say was a domestic dispute.
Pham, a 15-year veteran of the force, was shot after stopping a white pickup truck along the highway. Police say he never fired a shot himself. He died a few hours later at London's Victoria Hospital.
Thousands of police officers, friends and well-wishers are expected at his funeral in Wingham, Ont. Friday.
Police also said a second OPP officer, identified in court documents as Const. Mercey, exchanged fire with the suspect "who was shot during the encounter after firing at the officer." Witnesses have described a hail of gunfire, as many as 20 shots, a suspect lying in a ditch and a police officer standing and firing.
It's since been revealed Pham once lived in Preston's hometown, Sundridge, Ont. between North Bay and Barrie, where his adoptive father, Dan, was a pastor at a Pentecostal church.
But Alex Preston said he doubts his brother knew Pham, noting his brother went to a different church than the one Pham's adoptive father, Dan Thompson, was the pastor of in the '80s.
"I don't think he knew Pham and I know I didn't and I would assume Fred didn't either," said Alex, who described his brother as a doting father and husband whose marriage was tumultuous for more than a decade.
Alex said his brother and wife had separated and, although she had an apartment in Gravenhurst, Ont., frequently visited, cooking dinner or going out for dinner as a couple. Over the last year or so, Preston said his brother was under building financial pressure, suffered a few health issues and was fighting to save his marriage.
"He had so much pressure, I think he just snapped," said Preston. "But I talked with him Sunday and he was rational and later I heard from his daughter he was headed to the (Dricoll home) but I didn't know why." Alex said he didn't know his brother had a gun in the truck.
"That's one thing that's got me so confused," he said. "I knew he was going down there, but why did he take the gun? I don't know. It's just so out of character. It just doesn't make sense. I keep wondering if I missed something he said. I don't know. But I know he's never had animosity towards the police." Alex said his brother had been staying at his daughter's home, looking after her animals while she was in Florida.
"He was all alone there and all that time to think and ... he was under a lot of stress. I guess a mind can only stand so much. But how do you know a guy's going to do something like that? It's impossible."
joe.belanger@sunmedia.ca