Details released of dramatic police shootout with murder suspect near Timmins, Ont.

Police cleared in shootout near Timmins in June An investigation has cleared OPP officers who arrested a murder suspect in June in an operation that left one officer with serious injuries.

Ontario's Special Investigation Unit has cleared police actions in a shootout with a murder suspect last June that left one police officer with bullet wounds to his neck.

The June 12 incident ended on an island on Night Hawk Lake with the capture of armed murder suspect Lucas MacDonald.

Officers with the Ontario Provincial Police tactical response unit (TRU), including boats and a helicopter, checked the area in the morning but were unable to find MacDonald.

"The complainant (MacDonald) was operating a canoe on the lake and was armed with a .22-caliber rifle," the SIU said in its incident narrative.

"At one point, he came ashore near a camp on the southwest side of the lake."

He was spotted by a civilian, who alerted police about a suspicious man who was operating a canoe on the lake despite bad conditions.

Three officers in the helicopter approached the camp when MacDonald began firing at them. It was around 11:48 a.m.

At that point, three of the officers went with the camp owner in his boat to meet up with OPP boats already on the water. By this time, MacDonald was canoeing to a small island west of Moose Island.

"The plan at this time was to have the OPP-operated boats … sail around the island from a distance," the SIU said.

"The complainant was to be contained on the island pending the arrival of additional police resources."

However, the motor of one of the police boats stopped working and the boat began drifting toward the island. The second police boat arrived to help and as police worked on the engine, MacDonald opened fire on them.

At around 12:56 p.m., an officer operating a drone from one of the police boats was shot twice in the neck.

"The complainant had started to fire at the boat from the island," the SIU said.

"It is unknown how many shots in total he discharged, but spent cartridge cases later located on the island suggests he fired at least five times."

Police returned fire

Police returned fire toward the island. The shooting continued as one police boat towed the other away from the island. The injured officer was lifted out of the boat and onto the rocks. A short time later, the OPP helicopter airlifted him to safety to receive medical attention.

"TRU officers maintained their position near that location, some 300 metres east of the island on which the complainant was located," the SIU said.

"Some time passed and an officer exclaimed something to the effect of, 'Gun. He has something in his hands.'"

Police fired twice when they spotted MacDonald coming toward them in the canoe. But as he neared, MacDonald held a paddle above his head "as if he were surrendering."

Officers approached the canoe, still on the water, and took him into custody.

"I hope your buddy’s OK, by the way," MacDonald told police after his arrest.

"I didn’t mean to hit him."

While the SIU automatically investigates when police fire their weapons, director Joseph Martino said there was no evidence police did anything wrong.

"The OPP officers were engaged in a lawful police operation attempting to locate and arrest a man – the complainant – they had reason to believe was involved in a recent murder," Martino wrote.

Defending injured colleague

The evidence shows that police fired in self-defence – and in defence of their colleague who had been injured by gunfire.

"The complainant was concealed on a heavily wooded island and, as far as the officers would have been understandably concerned, still a real and present danger," he said.

"The initial volley of police gunfire was a direct response to shots fired in their direction by the complainant. Clearly, faced with a lethal threat, a resort to lethal force of their own was a rational and proportionate response. The same may be said of the subsequent police gunfire."

It also made sense for police to fire at the otherwise uninhabited island, which could be described as "suppression gunfire."

While police shot at MacDonald when he was paddling toward them to surrender, there was no way for them to know his intention and they believed he was still armed.

"For the foregoing reasons, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case," Martino said.

"The file is closed."

Read the full decision here.