Const. Vu Pham, 37, of the Ontario Provincial Police, was fatally shot Monday near Seaforth, Ont. (OPP/Canadian Press)

An Ontario Provincial Police officer has died after a Monday morning shootout with an elderly man near Seaforth, Ont., north of London.

Const. Vu Pham, 37, a father of three, died of his injuries in hospital, police said Monday afternoon. There were unconfirmed reports that Pham, who was airlifted to London Health Sciences Centre, suffered a head injury.

"I am deeply saddened by the loss of this young brave officer, who was committed to protecting the citizens of Ontario," OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino said.

Pham's wife, Heather, and three sons were with him when he died.

Fantino hailed the officer as "one of our heroes."

"[It's] just a very sad time for all of us, and our deep condolences go out to the family — Heather and the children especially," Fantino said at a news conference.

Born in Vietnam, Pham was a 15-year member of the OPP, working out of the Huron County detachment. He had also served in the Cochrane and West Parry Sound detachments.

Police were called at 10:18 a.m. ET to the North Line in Huron County, Fantino said. The officer attempted to stop a vehicle, and in doing so was confronted by an armed man.

OPP officers located a suspect shortly after Pham was shot.

"The suspect was also shot in the incident and he too is presently in hospital," said Fantino, who added that the man is about 70 years old.

No other police officers were injured.

A cruiser blocks a road near the scene of a shootout Monday that claimed the life of a 15-year veteran of the OPP and wounded a man about 70 years old. (Sarah Sears/CBC)

Reports suggested the officer exchanged 15 to 20 shots with the unidentified man.

Faith Weber, a resident of Brussels, Ont., was a witness to the shooting. She told radio station CKNX that the officer and a man fired at each other across a road.

"The guy [was] laying in the ditch and the police officer was on the other side of the road in the ditch but he was standing up and they were both shooting back and forth at each other," she said. "When I was there, there was probably about five, six shots that already went off, and then we had to move back farther and then there was more shots going off."

She said the gunfire ended after more police officers arrived.

"There are still many loose ends to deal with," Fantino said.

(CBC)

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty called Monday's shooting an "opportunity for all of us just to reflect on how much we count on these men and women every single day to go out there and put it on the line."

His words were echoed by Canada's Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

"This event is a harsh reminder of the dangerous conditions faced daily by the men and women of our law enforcement agencies as they work to protect the safety and security of Canadians," he said in a written statement.

The province's Special Investigations Unit and the OPP's criminal investigation branch are investigating the shooting. The SIU investigates cases of serious injury or death involving police and civilians.

The unit has sent six investigators and three forensic investigators to the scene. They are looking into witness accounts and are asking people with information to call 1-800-622-2342.

With the latest death, 104 OPP officers have been killed in the line of duty since the force was established in 1909.

Before Pham, the last OPP officer to die in the line of duty was Const. Alan Hack of the Elgin County detachment. On July 6, 2009, Hack and his partner were trying to arrest a suspect when a transport truck hit their cruiser. Hack died of his injuries in hospital in Newbury, Ont.

Under the Criminal Code, the murder of a police officer is considered first-degree murder regardless of whether it was planned or deliberate. First-degree murder carries a life sentence on conviction with no chance of parole for 25 years.

With files from The Canadian Press