Ontario's police watchdog clears OPP officer who fatally shot man in Collingwood, Ont.
SIU finds 'no reasonable grounds' to believe that officer committed criminal offence
The director of Ontario's police watchdog has cleared an officer who fatally shot a man in Collingwood, Ont. in September 2020.
Joseph Martino, director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) wrote in a release on Tuesday that he "found no reasonable grounds to believe that an Ontario Provincial Police officer committed a criminal offence" in connection with the man's death.
The incident, which occurred on Sept. 9, 2020, began when officers were called to a residence on Third Street for reports that a man in distress was barricaded inside.
"Shortly after police arrived, the man exited the residence with a shotgun," said the SIU release.
"An officer repeatedly instructed the man to drop the gun and deployed a conducted energy weapon with no success."
At that point, the OPP officer fired 11 rounds, eight of which hit the 29-year-old man. He was transported to hospital and pronounced dead.
According to the release, Martino found that "the officer acted to thwart a threat of imminent death to himself and others" and based on that decided that the file should be closed.