Fallen Calgary officer’s family hit hard by Ontario officer’s death

The death of Greg Pierzchala, an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) constable in Hagersville, Ont., is hitting close to home for the family of Calgary’s fallen police officer, Sgt. Andrew Harnett.

Harnett died after he was dragged by a fleeing SUV and falling into the path of an oncoming car on New Year’s Eve 2020.

Speaking to CityNews, Andrew’s elder brother, Jason said Pierzchala’s death is especially upsetting for the Harnett family because Hagersville is the same community both Andrew and Jason grew up in.

“Every time something like this happens, it hits you pretty hard. But this one particularly hit me very hard. And, again, our small community of Hagersville, where this incident occurred, it’s almost like reliving the whole thing again and it feels like another member of the family has been lost, and my sympathies — deepest condolences are going out to the Pierzchala family.”

Jason says it was in Hagersville that Andrew developed his love for policing.

He wants people to show support for Pierzchala’s family by displaying blue lights, similar to how Calgarians showed support for his brother, Andrew.

“It means a lot for their family, I know firsthand, because for us that’s something that really helped us — knowing that people were sending us words of support and showing symbols of support through blue lights and blue ribbons — and that meant a lot. And Calgary was so good at showing support for Andrew, and I want to do the same here in Hagersville.”

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One of those accused in Pierzchala’s death, 25-year-old Randall McKenzie, was banned for life from owning firearms in 2018. He was charged in 2021 with a number of gun-related offences, as well as assaulting a peace officer.

According to the OPP Commissioner, he was released on bail. Jason is now calling for stronger laws to stop incidents like this from happening to others.

“I’m urging people to turn on the pressure for our politicians to start making changes, because, yes, I do feel that our system is very soft on crime, and I think that there are a lot of delays in the court system. They don’t prioritize some of these heinous murders” he said.

Saturday, Dec. 31 is the two-year anniversary of Sgt. Andrew Harnett’s death. On Thursday, Calgary Police held a service of remembrance to honor his life.