A suspect believed to have stabbed a Toronto police officer in the neck during a routine traffic stop in North York has died. Const. Jeff Blair was stabbed in the neck during a traffic stop near Bathurst Street and Highway 401 last month. The suspect, a 38-year-old male, was shot by police, and succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Blair was rushed to Sunnybrook Hospital, where he underwent surgery, and is currently recovering, explained the chief of police, William Blair (no relation).

“We received a call that I think everyone in our service and the people of Toronto always fear,” Blair said. “A police officer had been very badly injured in North York. He received a very serious stab wound to the neck.”

An off-duty firefighter and Emergency Medical Services came to the aid of Const. Blair.

According to the CBC, the now-deceased male suspect served a sentence for drug trafficking. The Special Investigations Unit — the arm’s-length agency that investigates when police have been involved in allegations of death, injury or sexual assault — has launched an investigation.