News Release
No Charges Against North Bay Police Officer After Man Shot During Arrest
Case Number: 22-OFI-027
Other News Releases Related to Case 22-OFI-027
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a North Bay Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in the shooting of a 34-year-old man in January.
On January 30, 2022, an officer was in his cruiser, parked on Fraser Street, as part of an unrelated assault investigation. A man approached the empty nearby cruiser of another officer and attempted to open the doors. When the officer exited his cruiser to question the man, the man armed himself with a knife and advanced at the officer. The officer shot and wounded the man. The man fled and two officers chased him on foot. He was arrested and taken to hospital where he was treated for a gunshot wound on his left arm.
Director Martino was satisfied the officer acted reasonably when he decided to meet a lethal threat with a resort to lethal force of his own. Accordingly, Director Martino found no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer comported himself unlawfully when he shot and wounded the man. 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.
Monica Hudon, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES