The province’s police watchdog has cleared Ontario Provincial Police officers who shot a man accused of wielding two knives towards officers during an investigation near Kingston, Ont. earlier this year. Officers were called to a home in the Camden East area of Stone Mills Township, about 170 kilometres southwest of Ottawa, reporting a disturbance on Jan 17. Police attempted to communicate with a man inside and officers retreated after he held “a knife in each hand” and told them they were not allowed inside, according to the SIU. Some time later, he “exited the house and walked forward in the direction of the officers.” Two officers discharged their anti-riot weapons three times, and one fired from a semi-automatic twice, according to the SIU. The SIU says the 41-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious injuries for bullet wounds to his left torso and left leg. “On his assessment of the evidence, SIU Director Joseph Martino determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe that an officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the shooting,” the SIU wrote. OPP say the man was later arrested for a number of crimes, including four counts of attempted murder. The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
