News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into the Death of A Stratford Man
Case Number: 08-PCD-148
At approximately 3:30 p.m. on July 26, 2008, OPP officers from the Listowel detachment, supported by members of the Tactical Rescue Unit and the Emergency Response Team, responded to a call about a pick-up truck on fire and a man armed with a sawed-off shotgun at Memorial Park in Listowel. When officers arrived, the man held them at bay and repeatedly threatened to take his own life. After a five-hour standoff during which police negotiators tried unsuccessfully to convince the man to surrender, he sat down under a tree and shot himself in the chest.
"In my view, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that any of the officers involved in this case committed any criminal offence", concluded SIU Director James Cornish. "When the officers realized that the man was armed, they immediately retreated to a position of relative safety and commenced their efforts to have the man give up the gun and surrender himself peacefully. Trained negotiators and an incident commander negotiated in earnest, but no avail."
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During the course of the investigation, the SIU interviewed six OPP officers and seven civilian witnesses as well as reviewed 96 minutes of audiotapes of dialogue between police negotiators and the distraught man.
If you or someone you know has been negatively affected by an incident under SIU investigation and would like support, the Affected Persons Program is here to help. You can reach us at 1-877-641-1897. Support is free, confidential, and available 24/7, every day of the year.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (municipal, regional and provincial police officers, police officers with the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, special constables with the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service) that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, the Director of the SIU must
- consider whether the official has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation
- depending on the evidence, cause a criminal charge to be laid against the official where grounds exist for doing so, or close the file without any charges being laid
- publicly report the results of its investigations