News Release
No Reasonable Grounds to Lay Charges in Relation to ARWEN Discharge at Man in Sault Ste. Marie
Case Number: 21-PFP-012
On January 8, 2021, following a standoff at his home in Saul Ste. Marie with Ontario Provincial Police officers, a 60-year-old man was taken into custody. Though the man did not suffer any serious injuries in the course of the arrest, he was struck by several ARWEN rounds. Accordingly, the SIU opened a file on the basis of its relatively new mandate under the Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019 to investigate firearm discharges at persons. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the shooting.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision):https://www.siu.on.ca/en/directors_reports.php.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (police officers as well as 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