Ontario’s police watchdog clears officer in 18-year-old man’s deadly fall at Square One mall

The logo of the Ontario Special Investigations Unit is pictured in Toronto on Friday, April 12, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey

The province’s police watchdog says no charges will be laid against an officer in connection with the death of an 18-year-old man who fell from the parking garage at Square One mall last year.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) announced it was discontinuing its probe into the Nov. 12, 2025 incident at the popular Mississauga mall on Friday.

Peel Regional Police officers were called to the Square One parking lot that afternoon for a man who the SIU said was experiencing “severe mental health distress.”

The SIU reported that the first officer on the scene was ascending the ramp to the third level of the parking garage when the man climbed onto the ledge and “intentionally” rolled off the edge of the structure.

First aid was provided, but the man was pronounced deceased at the scene. He has not been identified.

The SIU said the officer was roughly 80 metres away from the man at the time of the fall and that Deputy Director Stacey O’Brien was “satisfied there was no causal connection between the attendance of the officer and the actions of the man.”

“Due to the rapid progression of events and the lack of proximity, there was no reasonable opportunity to intervene or prevent the outcome,” the SIU said in a news release.

Two investigators and a forensic investigator were assigned to the case and an autopsy was conducted the day after the incident.

“On this record, it was evident the officer did nothing that could conceivably attract criminal liability in connection with the unfortunate death of the young man,” the SIU added.

The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates police conduct that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.