A Hamilton police officer has pleaded guilty to misconduct after failing to respond to a dispatch call for a murder-suicide earlier this year.

Const. Kyle Anders, 32, was charged with one count of discreditable conduct and one count of neglect of duty for not answering a dispatch call about a multiple homicide at a Stoney Creek home on April 16, 2016.

Anders pleaded guilty at a disciplinary hearing held Tuesday morning at the Hamilton central police station, presided over by Superintendent James Anderson, and was handed a two-year demotion for his actions.

As he drove away from the call, he passed two cruisers racing the other way with sirens blaring —one of which was being driven by his supervisor.

"The public expects more of its police officers, and you are held to a higher standard. Your fellow officers expect more of each other," said Anderson as he delivered his closing statement. "(We) must send a clear message to the public that the Hamilton Police Service will hold officers accountable, in that there will be severe consequences for such misconduct."

Anders was less than 2km away from Stoney Creek shooting

Four people were killed as a result of the shooting in question, including the gunman himself.

The shooter James Milroy, 37, shot his girlfriend Aerlaena Smith, 19, his brother Michael Milroy, 32, and his 70-year-old mother Gina Milroy at their Valrose Drive home in Stoney Creek, before turning the gun on himself.

The dispatch call for the incident came in at around 6:30 p.m. that day. Tuesday's tribunal heard that Anders was working the day shift on April 16, with his shift due to end at 7 p.m.

Between 6:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. that day, Anders and two other police officers were at the scene of a motor vehicle collision in the area of the Memphis Grill Restaurant in Stoney Creek. At the conclusion of the investigation and after completing his notes with a fellow officer, he said he had not had lunch, and began heading back to Station 20 in the East End.

Anders drove past supervisor in cruiser with sirens

Anders was the closest officer to the scene at the time of dispatch, only 1.9 kilometres away, and was carrying a shotgun, but failed to turn his cruiser around and respond.

The tribunal heard that Anders pulled over around 6:34 p.m. and contemplated responding to the call, but then continued on to Station 20. There, he fueled up his vehicle and tested equipment, before logging off and reporting to the duty sergeant that he did not respond to the call.

... The Hamilton Police Service will hold officers accountable, in that there will be severe consequences for such misconduct. - Superintendent James Anderson

Belchior Arruda, counsel for Anders, said his client had an unblemished record, and the judgement that he displayed on April 16 was highly out of character.

He also said Anders had been dealing with significant personal issues at the time, and asked that extenuating factors of extreme stress and exhaustion to be taken into consideration.

The tribunal heard that Anders, who has been with the Hamilton Police Service since August 26, 2008, described his state of mind at the time of the call as like "being in a fog." His mother-in-law, the family's primary caregiver, had been diagnosed with cancer just weeks prior, his grandmother had suffered a stroke, and a complication in the 8th month of his wife's then-pregnancy had confined her to bed.

Anders was found guilty of neglect of duty and earned a two-year demotion for his actions. He will serve as a third-class constable for the first year, and a second-class constable for the second year, before he may return to duty as a first-class constable.

Anders has two children, a 2-year-old son and a 5-month-old son. As a result of the demotion, he will take a pay cut of about $38,000 in salary, in addition to losing his performance pay.