Young child killed after pickup collides with OPP cruiser on Highway 7 near Perth

A 10-year-old child has died in hospital after being injured in a head-on collision east of Perth.

Lanark County OPP say the crash happened on Highway 7, between Drummond School Road and Drummond Concession 7, on Saturday, Dec. 13, just before 4:30 p.m.

Police say an OPP officer was on patrol in a marked cruiser when it was struck by an oncoming pickup truck.

Three people were inside the pickup. The child was airlifted by Air Ornge to a regional trauma centre, but was pronounced dead the following day. The two other occupants remain in hospital with serious injuries.

OPP Media Relations Officer Bill Dickson told Lanarkist that the occupants of the truck, including the child, are all from Ottawa.

The OPP officer is recovering from serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The investigation is ongoing, with assistance from OPP collision reconstructionists and technical collision investigators from the Traffic Incident Management Enforcement team.

Dickson said that the Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, will not be involved in this incident despite it involving a police cruiser. “We notified them, they reviewed details and did not invoke,” he told Lanarkist in an email.

Lanarkist will continue to provide updates as they are made available.

Anyone with information, or dashcam video that may be relevant and has not yet spoken with police, is asked to contact the Lanark County OPP at 1-888-310-1122 and reference incident E251673466.