Police officer who shot man outside Cambridge townhouse won’t be charged

Waterloo Regional Police and Ontario's Special Investigations Unit investigate a shooting and stabbing on Morning Calm Drive in Cambridge on Thursday, April 30, 2015. (Nicole Lampa / CTV Kitchener)

A Waterloo Regional Police officer “had no other choice” but to shoot Wesley Laforme outside a townhouse on Morning Calm Drive in Cambridge, Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit says.

The SIU released its report into the April 30 shooting on Tuesday, recommending no charges be laid against Const. Elizabeth Skelding.

Skelding was the officer who shot Laforme, after he stabbed her in her leg and stabbed his ex-girlfriend nine times with a kitchen knife.

According to court testimony, the ex-girlfriend had hid in her basement and called police after Laforme showed up at her home.

The SIU found that the relationship between the couple had ended earlier that day – at which point Laforme had choked the woman and threatened to kill her, before leaving the area.

SIU investigators concluded that Skelding’s actions were legally justifiable, as they were in self-defence or defence of others.

“The officer tried to physically disarm Mr. Laforme,” SIU director Tony Loparco said in a press release.

“He fought her off and stabbed her in the leg. Having been seriously wounded, the subject officer had no choice but to use lethal force.”

Loparco commended Skelding’s decision to shoot Laforme, saying that action “likely saved the (other) woman’s life.”

Laforme, 30, was sentenced to 10 years in prison last month for aggravated assault and attempted murder.

He remains in a wheelchair due to injuries received when he was shot.

The SIU’s investigation involved interviews with six other police officers who responded to Morning Calm Drive, as well as three civilian witnesses.

Skelding did not agree to be interviewed.