Provincial police cleared in incident where mentally distressed suspect shot twice by northern Ont. officer

Provincial police cleared in Thessalon shooting Ontario’s police watchdog has wrapped up its investigation into a shooting in Thessalon earlier this year & cleared the officers involved.

Provincial police in northern Ontario have been cleared in an incident where a 35-year-old man was injured while being arrested on a Mental Health Act warrant in Thessalon, Ont.

What happened

On the evening of March 22, an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer located the wanted man near a gazebo northwest of the intersection of Frances Street and Ontario Street.

Multiple officers were in the area looking to take the 35-year-old into custody on the strength of a Mental Health Act warrant they had obtained earlier in the day when the wanted man’s location was radioed and OPP members converged on the scene.

“The complainant (wanted man) was of unsound mind at the time and contemplating self-harm,” the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said in a news release.

“He had earlier picked up a retractable knife from an abandoned building and resolved to hurt himself or prompt police officers into hurting him.”

The officer who had spotted the man exited his cruiser, neared him and observed the knife in his right hand.

“The officer attempted to speak to the complainant but to no avail,” reads the report.

“As the complainant neared his location, the officer drew his firearm and directed him to drop the weapon.”

As other officers arrived further efforts were made to de-escalate the situation.

“(The officer with his weapon drawn) told the complainant that they were there to help,” said SIU officials.

“Again, the complainant was largely unresponsive. Instead, he changed directions slightly and started to move towards (police).”

The officer with his weapon drawn took the opportunity to get behind the man with the intention of discharging a conducted energy weapon – also called a taser – at his back.

According to official accounts, the officer fired twice but neither discharge was successful and the suspect advanced towards the officer.

“The supervising officer yelled at the complainant to stop and drop the weapon,” reads the report.

“The complainant continued to advance and had neared within two to five metres of (the officer) when (he) fired twice.”

Following the gunfire the wanted man fell and was handcuffed by the OPP.

“Following his arrest, the complainant was transported to hospital and diagnosed with gunshot wounds to the upper left arm and left chest,” said the SIU.

Injuries

Pursuant to this legislation, the Personal Health Information Protection Act, any information related to the personal health of identifiable individuals is not included in the SIU report.

The wanted man did, however, suffer “serious injuries,” according to the report.

He was taken to North Shore Health Network in Thessalon and then transferred to Health Sciences North in Greater Sudbury.

Information not shared

The SIU report states that information “may” also have been excluded from this report because its release could undermine the integrity of other proceedings involving the same incident, such as criminal proceedings, coroner’s inquests, other public proceedings and/or other law enforcement investigations.

No wrongdoing

Ontario's police watchdog has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe that any OPP officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the shooting incident.

Interviews with the complainants, officers, witnesses, physical evidence collected and video footage from the scene led the SIU to clear the officer of wrongdoing.

SIU director Joseph Martino wrote he was satisfied that the force, “namely, two shots from his semi-automatic pistol,” was reasonable.

"A physical engagement to intervene would have risked serious injury given the knife in the complainant’s hands,” he said.

“Less-lethal force had already been tried and failed because of the layers of clothing the complainant was wearing. The discharge of oleoresin capsicum spray would not have had the kind of stopping power required of the moment. And retreat or withdrawal were not viable options given the speed with which events were unfolding and the likelihood of an imminent knife attack.”

According to the director, the supervising officer fired his weapon believing it was necessary to protect his officer from an imminent attack.

“There is nothing in the evidence to raise doubt about the officer’s assertion,” Martino said.

“The complainant was armed with a knife capable of causing grievous bodily harm or death, had brandished it at the officers in a threatening fashion, and was approaching striking distance of (an officer) when the supervising officer fired his weapon. In the circumstances, the complainant had given the officer cause to believe that defensive action was necessary.”

The SIU determined that the OPP were within their rights in seeking to take the wanted man into custody under the warrant they had acquired.

“On this record, I am unable to conclude that the supervising officer acted unreasonably when he chose to meet a threat of lethal force with a resort to lethal force of his own,” Martino wrote.

“For the foregoing reasons, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case. The file is closed," he wrote to end his report.

Read the full report here.