On November 26, 2020, a 33-year-old man became involved in an interaction with Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers in the City of Kawartha Lakes. When three officers discharged their firearms at the man, the man was struck. He was airlifted to hospital. Last night at 8:40 p.m., the man succumbed to his injuries. A post-mortem is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. in Toronto.
What we know so far:
During the interaction, a one-year-old boy sustained a fatal gunshot wound. His post-mortem took place on Saturday, and the SIU is awaiting this report.
Prior to the shooting, the man’s vehicle collided with an OPP cruiser and a civilian vehicle. An officer who was outside of the cruiser – laying down a spike belt – sustained serious injuries as a result of the collision. He remains in hospital in stable condition.
The three officers who discharged their firearms were designated as subject officers. Thirteen OPP officers were designated as witness officers. Ten of the witness officers have been interviewed by SIU investigators, and the remaining three will be interviewed in the coming days.
The Centre of Forensic Sciences is in possession of the man’s pickup truck for examination. The CFS is also in possession of a handgun that was located in the pickup truck. The three police-issued firearms that were discharged are currently with the SIU.
The SIU is urging anyone who may have information about this investigation to contact the lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529. The Unit is also urging anyone who may have any video evidence related to this incident to upload that video through the SIU website.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (police officers as well as special constables with the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service) that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, the Director of the SIU must consider whether the official has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation depending on the evidence, cause a criminal charge to be laid against the official where grounds exist for doing so, or close the file without any charges being laid
publicly report the results of its investigations
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
