THUNDER BAY -- Thirty-seven years ago, Const. John Kusznier paid the ultimate sacrifice, killed on the job in a hail of bullets on Jan. 15, 1978.
On Thursday Thunder Bay Police Service remembered his sacrifice, lowering flags in front of the Balmoral Street station to half mast at a pre-dawn ceremony.
They also changed the lights on the electronic sign in front of the police station to blue in Kusznier’s memory.
Police Chief J.P. Levesque said it was the least they could do for a fallen comrade, who fatally shot one of his attackers on that fateful winter day outside a local nightclub before succumbing to his own injuries, leaving behind a wife and two sons.
“We feel that it’s important to mark this day every year,” Levesque said. “We feel it’s important that the public realize this individual made the ultimate sacrifice to keep the community safe. But also our members need to be reminded every once in awhile it can be a very dangerous profession.”
Kusznier is the last Thunder Bay Police Service officer killed in the line of duty.
Levesque said police are asking Thunder Bay residents to show support of Kusznier’s sacrifice by changing their exterior lights to blue for a week, seizing on a social-media blue-light campaign that has taken off in the wake of recent police officer deaths in New York and France.
“It’s something that we recognize, that given everything that’s going on in the world right now, we’re looking for some support. We know we have it, generally speaking, but we think for the general public to show that they do support the police and the work that we’re doing is important,” Levesque said.
“God forbid that it ever happen here, but who’s going to be at the front line? It’s going to be the police officer. It’s a nice show of respect, I think.”
More information about the blue-light campaign can be found on the TBPS Facebook page.
