Director's Report Details

The Special Investigations Unit is a civilian law enforcement agency that investigates incidents involving an official where there has been death, serious injury, the discharge of a firearm at a person or an allegation of sexual assault. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019 (SIU Act), officials are defined as police officers, special constables of the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers under the Legislative Assembly Act. The SIU’s jurisdiction covers more than 50 municipal, regional and provincial police services across Ontario.

Under the SIU Act, the Director of the SIU must determine based on the evidence gathered in an investigation whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that a criminal offence was committed. If such grounds exist, the Director has the authority to lay a criminal charge against the official. Alternatively, in cases where no reasonable grounds exist, the Director cannot lay charges. Where no charges are laid, a report of the investigation is prepared and released publicly, except in the case of reports dealing with allegations of sexual assault, in which case the SIU Director may consult with the affected person and exercise a discretion to not publicly release the report having regard to the affected person’s privacy interests.

Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019

Pursuant to section 34, certain information may not be included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• The name of, and any information identifying, a subject official, witness official, civilian witness or affected person.
• Information that may result in the identity of a person who reported that they were sexually assaulted being revealed in connection with the sexual assault.
• Information that, in the opinion of the SIU Director, could lead to a risk of serious harm to a person.
• Information that discloses investigative techniques or procedures.
• Information, the release of which is prohibited or restricted by law.
• Information in which a person’s privacy interest in not having the information published clearly outweighs the public interest in having the information published.

Freedom of Information and Protection of Personal Privacy Act

Pursuant to section 14 (i.e., law enforcement), certain information may not be included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Confidential investigative techniques and procedures used by law enforcement agencies; and
• Information that could reasonably be expected to interfere with a law enforcement matter or an investigation undertaken with a view to a law enforcement proceeding.

Pursuant to section 21 (i.e., personal privacy), protected personal information is not included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• The names of persons, including civilian witnesses, and subject and witness officials;
• Location information;
• Witness statements and evidence gathered in the course of the investigation provided to the SIU in confidence; and
• Other identifiers which are likely to reveal personal information about individuals involved in the investigation.

Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004

Pursuant to this legislation, any information related to the personal health of identifiable individuals is not included.

Other proceedings, processes, and investigations

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.

Pursuant to section 15 of the SIU Act, the SIU may investigate the conduct of officials, be they police officers, special constables of the Niagara Parks Commission or peace officers under the Legislative Assembly Act, that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm at a person.

A person sustains a “serious injury” for purposes of the SIU’s jurisdiction if they: sustain an injury as a result of which they are admitted to hospital; suffer a fracture to the skull, or to a limb, rib or vertebra; suffer burns to a significant proportion of their body; lose any portion of their body; or, as a result of an injury, experience a loss of vision or hearing.

In addition, a “serious injury” means any other injury sustained by a person that is likely to interfere with the person’s health or comfort and is not transient or trifling in nature.

This report relates to the SIU’s investigation into death of a 19-year-old man (the “Complainant”).

Notification of the SIU[1]

On November 28, 2025, at 1:55 a.m., the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) contacted the SIU with the following information.

On November 27, 2025, the Complainant was in mental health crisis while at a friend’s house in the area of Fischer-Hallman Road and Erb Street West, Waterloo. The Complainant was paranoid and delusional, and said he was poisoned. He retrieved a knife from the kitchen and injured himself in the stomach with cuts believed to be superficial. The Complainant’s friend called police at 11:15 p.m. Officers responded and arrived at 11:20 p.m., finding the Complainant lying prone on the floor in the home with his hands underneath body. He was initially unresponsive but then came to and continued expressing paranoid thoughts. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were requested. At 11:22 p.m., the Complainant was apprehended under the Mental Health Act (MHA) without the use of force. While paramedics were there, the Complainant went vital signs absent (VSA). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was initiated, and the Complainant was taken to the Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN) Midtown Hospital. He was pronounced deceased in hospital on November 28, 2025, at 12:42 a.m.

The Team

Date and time team dispatched: 2025/11/28 at 2:38 a.m.

Date and time SIU arrived on scene: 2025/11/28 at 2:58 a.m.

Number of SIU Investigators assigned: 2

Number of SIU Forensic Investigators assigned: 1

Affected Person (aka “Complainant”)

19-year-old male; deceased

Civilian Witnesses (CW)

CW #1 Interviewed

CW #2 Interviewed

CW #3 Interviewed

The civilian witnesses were interviewed on November 28, 2025.

Witness Officials (WO)

WO #1 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

WO #2 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

The witness officials were interviewed between December 4 and 12, 2025.

The Scene

The events in question transpired in the corridor between the kitchen and living room of a residence located in the area of Fischer-Hallman Road and Erb Street West, Waterloo.

Physical Evidence

The image, below, is a photograph taken by WRPS forensic services of a knife recovered at the scene.

Video/Audio/Photographic Evidence[2]

Body-worn Camera (BWC) Footage – WO #1 and WO #2

On November 27, 2025, starting at about 11:18 p.m., WO #2 and WO #1 approached the side entrance of a residence. CW #2 answered the door, said the Complainant had grabbed a knife, and made a gesture of a single stab motion to the stomach. WO #2 asked if the Complainant had stabbed had himself. CW #2 replied, “I don’t see any blood.”

Starting at about 11:19 p.m., WO #2 drew his conducted energy weapon (CEW) and entered the residence behind WO #1, who held a ballistic shield and firearm. The Complainant lay facedown in a hallway between the kitchen and living room. He moaned but did not move or react to multiple police commands of, “Show us your hands.” A knife was not observed.

Starting at about 11:21 p.m., WO #2 and WO #1 pulled the Complainant’s hands behind his back, and WO #2 placed the Complainant’s hands in handcuffs behind the back without resistance. The officers checked the Complainant and saw no wounds on his back, but there was some red discolouration present in his stomach area. His eyes were wide and unfocused, and he did not respond to officers’ questions. WO #2 attempted to move the Complainant into a seated position against the wall. His eyes were unfocused, and spittle drooled from his mouth. His body remained limp while he flailed occasionally and made incoherent utterances. WO #2 placed the Complainant in the recovery position and indicated he suspected the Complainant was under the influence of drugs and had mental health issues.

Starting at about 11:32 p.m., EMS arrived on scene and attended to the Complainant. WO #2 and WO #1 informed EMS that the Complainant had grabbed a knife and, according to other residents, self-inflicted a small knife puncture wound on his stomach. No other wounds were observed. The Complainant went VSA. WO #2 began chest compressions and the Complainant gained a minimal pulse and marginal breathing. The Complainant was removed from the residence on a stretcher and WO #2 accompanied EMS in the ambulance.

Communications Recordings & Computer-aided Dispatch (CAD) Report

On November 27, 2025, at 11:15 p.m., a man called 911 and reported that the Complainant had grabbed a knife from the kitchen and he (the 911 caller) had fled the residence. CW #2 and CW #3 were still present at the residence.

At 11:19 p.m., WO #1 reported that the Complainant was laying on the floor and that residents advised he might have stabbed himself. The Complainant did not respond to commands and laid on his hands. Two minute later, EMS were requested as a precaution.

At 11:39 p.m., the Complainant went VSA, and compressions began.

At 11:58 p.m., the Complainant was prepared for transport with EMS. His vital signs had improved but CPR remained ongoing.

Materials Obtained from Police Service

Upon request, the SIU obtained the following records from WRPS between November 28, 2025, and December 1, 2025:

• BWC footage of WO #1 and WO #2
• General Occurrence Report
• CAD Report
• Communications recordings
• WRPS Policy - Mental Health Response
• Notes - WO #1 and WO #2
• WRPS photographs of the scene and of the Complainant at the hospital

Materials Obtained from Other Sources

The SIU obtained the Preliminary Autopsy Findings Report from the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service on November 29, 2025

The evidence collected by the SIU, including interviews with civilian and police eyewitnesses, and video footage that largely captured the events in question, gives rise to the following scenario.

In the evening of November 27, 2025, WRPS officers were called to an address in the area of Fischer-Hallman Road and Erb Street West, Waterloo. Residents had contacted police to report concerns about a guest – the Complainant – who had retrieved a knife from the kitchen.

WO #1 and WO #2 arrived on scene and approached the residence side door together, the former equipped with a shield and his pistol drawn, the latter with a CEW at the ready. They were greeted by CW #2 and CW #3, who reported that the Complainant had stabbed himself in the abdomen and was on the floor in a corridor between the kitchen and living room. The officers directed CW #2 and CW #3 to the basement and made their way to the corridor. The Complainant was laying prone on the floor. The officers asked to see his hands but the Complainant was mostly unresponsive. Eventually, WO #1 and WO #2 moved in to handcuff the Complainant behind the back. The time was about 11:21 p.m.

Following the arrest, the officers sat the Complainant on the floor and checked him for injuries. Aside from a small hole to the left of the Complainant’s navel, which was hardly bleeding, there were none.

Paramedics arrived on scene at about 11:32 p.m. and tended to the Complainant. Within a short time of their arrival, the Complainant went VSA. He was provided emergency care, WO #2 assisting with chest compressions.

The Complainant was transported to hospital and pronounced deceased at 12:42 a.m., November 28, 2025.

Cause of Death

The pathologist at autopsy was of the preliminary view that the Complainant’s death was attributable to a stab wound of the abdomen.

Section 215, Criminal Code - Failure to Provide Necessaries

215 (1) Every one is under a legal duty

(c) to provide necessaries of life to a person under his charge if that person

(i) is unable, by reason of detention, age, illness, mental disorder or other cause, to withdraw himself from that charge, and

(ii) is unable to provide himself with necessaries of life.

(2) Every person commits an offence who, being under a legal duty within the meaning of subsection (1), fails without lawful excuse to perform that duty, if

(b) with respect to a duty imposed by paragraph (1)(c), the failure to perform the duty endangers the life of the person to whom the duty is owed or causes or is likely to cause the health of that person to be injured permanently.

Sections 219 and 220, Criminal Code - Criminal Negligence Causing Death

219 (1) Every one is criminally negligent who

(a) in doing anything, or

(b) in omitting to do anything that it is his duty to do,

shows wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons.

(2) For the purposes of this section, duty means a duty imposed by law.

220 Every person who by criminal negligence causes death to another person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable

(a) where a firearm is used in the commission of the offence, to imprisonment for life and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of four years; and

(b) in any other case, to imprisonment for life.

The Complainant passed away shortly after his arrest by WRPS officers on November 27, 2025. The SIU was notified of the incident and initiated an investigation. The investigation is now concluded. On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that any WRPS officers committed a criminal offence in connection with the Complainant’s death.

The offences that arise for consideration are failure to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence causing death contrary to sections 215 and 220 of the Criminal Code, respectively. Both require something more than a simple want of care to give rise to liability. The former is predicated, in part, on conduct that amounts to a marked departure from the level of care that a reasonable person would have exercised in the circumstances. The latter is premised on even more egregious conduct that demonstrates a wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons. It is not made out unless the neglect constitutes a marked and substantial departure from a reasonable standard of care. In the instant case, the question is whether there was any want of care on the part of any police officer, sufficiently serious to attract criminal sanction, that endangered the Complainant’s life or contributed to his death. In my view, there was not.

WO #1 and WO #2 were lawfully placed and engaged in the exercise of their duties when they responded to the address and entered the residence to investigate. The police service had received a serious call about an individual in possible possession of a weapon, and the officers were duty bound to attend at the house to do what they could to ensure public safety.

Once it became clear at the house that the Complainant was of unsound mind, and possibly injured because of a self-inflicted stab wound, WO #1 and WO #2 comported themselves with due care and regard for his wellbeing. They attempted to communicate with him to understand what was wrong, checked him for injuries after he was handcuffed, and arranged for paramedics to be dispatched. WO #2 also assisted with CPR at the scene and in the back of the ambulance en route to hospital.

For the foregoing reasons, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case. The file is closed.

Date: March 27, 2026

Electronically approved by

Joseph Martino

Director

Special Investigations Unit