Premier Doug Ford was one of a number of officials who visited Toronto police's Traffic Services unit in Liberty Village Tuesday morning to personally offer his condolences to the colleagues of Const. Andrew Hong.

A 22-year Toronto police veteran, Hong was fatally shot inside a Mississauga coffee shop on Monday afternoon during a GTA shooting rampage that saw another man killed in Milton, and three others injured. The shooter, who was the subject of an emergency alert, died late Monday afternoon following an interaction with Halton police in a Hamilton cemetery.

“This is a tragedy. It's a senseless tragedy and we just want to send the message to his family but also the larger police family that we will always have their backs,” Ford told CP24 as he arrived at Traffic Services to speak with officers. “I don't think there's a person in Ontario that is out there that's not feeling a loss. It's a senseless tragedy. A police officer gets shot because he's wearing a police uniform.”

Hong was a member of Traffic Services'  Traffic Motor Squad.

He was also a married father of two teenage daughters and Ford told CP24 on Tuesday that his “heart breaks” for Hong’s family.

“It's just a senseless tragedy that took the life of an incredible officer,” he said.

Mayor John Tory and Police Chief James Ramer also attended the Hanna Avenue location earlier in the morning, alongside several other officials.

“These men and women had to come back to work this morning and it was one of their colleagues who they lost yesterday in just unbelievable, senseless circumstances,” Tory told CP24. “And so, the chief, myself, the head of the police board, the head of the police association just came to, you know, to try and provide them with a degree of comfort and support, to encourage them to get support, if they need it, and to just thank them for the fact that they are here this morning, the day after they lost one of their colleagues.”

Calling Hong a “beloved” colleague, Tory said even those who were not sworn police officers at Traffic Services all knew him as “kind of a leader” at the unit.

“So, I think it was just important for us to be there last night, as we were, and also to be here this morning just to thank them for coming to work,” he said, adding despite what happened yesterday, Hong’s colleagues know it is their duty to “put on the uniform and come to work, and get out there in the streets to keep us safe.”

“They are in there this morning coping the best as they can and they are going out on the streets to work,” he said, adding people who work on the frontlines with victims of homicide or gun violence “feel a very personal sense of loss.”

“You feel somehow was there anything we could have done? … You think of the family,” added Tory, who said he’s spoken with Hong’s family.

He said as Toronto’s mayor he’s now experienced two “senseless” deaths of police officers killed in the line of duty. On July 2, 2021, Det. Const. Jeffrey Northrup, of 52 Division, was fatally struck by a vehicle while responding to a robbery call at an underground parking lot at Toronto City Hall.

Tory said the city along with Toronto Police Service (TPS) and Toronto Police Association (TPA) are also all here to offer support for Hong’s family, including what kind of observances they may want for their loved one.

Toronto Police Interim Chief James Ramer said he met with the team at Traffic Services this morning in the garage. He said a lot of the mechanics there, especially those who repair bicycles, knew and worked with Hong for several years.

“It's just an unbelievably difficult day and a tragic circumstance for the members and for the family. And we're just gonna have to be there to help everybody through that,” Ramer said moments before heading downtown for a TPS Board meeting.

Devastated is the word TPA President Jon Reid used to describe how Hong’s family as well as the police community in Toronto and across the country are feeling about his death.

“Nobody understands why such a senseless acts of violence could or would take place. … “I think there's no real words to explain how everyone feels,” said Reid, noting a funeral for Hong, whom he described as a “very, very happy officer, a great guy to chat with, and a good family man” will likely take place “later on next week.”

“We're just speaking to members today from Traffic Services. I can tell you the officers are in shock.”

Late this morning, TPS Board issued a statement offering its “deepest condolences to (Hong’s) family, loved ones, and colleagues” on his death.

“As a city, we mourn the death of a beloved husband, father, son, brother-in-law, friend, as well as a dedicated police officer. By all accounts, P.C. Hong was an exceedingly kind and positive person, gentle and caring, funny and warm, who loved his family, and did his job with extraordinary commitment and great professionalism,” they said, adding Hong, who as a police officer took an “oath to serve and protect the members of our community, diligently, with dedication, and despite the very real risks inherent in a profession premised on ensuring the safety of the public” and “made the ultimate sacrifice.”

The board went on to say that TPS is a family and when one of its members is lost “ – especially in such a horrifying way – the reverberations of sadness, anger and grief, echo deeply throughout this organization.”

“To our Members, we know that your hearts are broken. We are grieving alongside you,” they said in the statement.

The board, which held a moving moment of silence during its Tuesday morning meeting, said it would be there for those in the service who are grieving Hong’s death and is mourning alongside them. Any TPS member in need of additional support is being urged to reach out TPA.

“Know that we are so very grateful for the risks you take every single day to keep this city safe. Know that your incredible dedication to duty is valued by the members of our communities,” they said.

“We do not take the significant risks you take daily on our behalf lightly. We thank you sincerely for your service, for your courage, and for your commitment.”