News Release
No Charges Against Ottawa Police Officer in Death of Man in Rural Ottawa
Case Number: 21-OCD-296
Other News Releases Related to Case 21-OCD-296
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that an Ottawa Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with a 48-year-old man’s self-inflicted death last September in rural Ottawa.
On September 7, 2021, officers responded to a 911 call in relation to a man in distress. Officers located the man, with a shotgun, at a hunting camp in a rural area west of Ottawa. Officers negotiated with the man for more than three hours. A gunshot was heard and the man was located with a gunshot wound to the chest. The man was taken to hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
Director Martino acknowledged that while the officers were unable to prevent the man from taking his own life, it was not for any want of reasonable efforts on their part. He concluded that there were no reasonable grounds to believe that any of the involved officers transgressed the limits of care prescribed by the criminal law. The file has been closed.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision):
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
Lisez ce communiqué en français.
Kristy Denette, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES