Ontario's Special Investigations Unit has been called to London after a man was fatally shot by a London police officer.
The shooting happened early Thursday morning near Richmond Row.
According to the SIU's preliminary findings, officers responded to a break and enter call in the area of St. George and Mill Streets around 3:46 a.m. One of the officers spotted a suspect in an alley on Richmond Street, just south of the train tracks.
"There was an interaction and an officer discharged his firearm at the man," the SIU said in a statement Thursday morning. "The man was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead at 4:24 a.m."
One officer was taken to hospital. According to London Police Chief Steve Williams, the officer has since been released from hospital.
"Critical incidents such as this impact individuals, and the community, in a multitude of ways. We are actively supporting our members with a variety of resources," Williams said in a statement released to the media on Thursday morning. "On behalf of the women and men of the London Police Service, I wish to extend my sympathies to the loved ones of the deceased."
The SIU says four investigators and two forensic investigators have been assigned to the case. A post mortem is scheduled to be performed on Friday.
The SIU is urging anyone who may have information about this investigation to contact the lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529. It's also also urging anyone who may have any video evidence related to this incident to upload that video through the SIU website.
The investigation marks the second time in nearly five years that the SIU has probed a fatal shooting by London police. Samuel Maloney was shot dead in his Duchess Ave. home during a police raid on December 23, 2016. He was shot several times by officers after shooting one of them with a crossbow. The SIU later ruled that there were no grounds on which to charge any of the officers involved in the raid.
In July, the SIU launched an investigation after a London police officer shot a man on Dufferin Avenue just east of Waterloo Street. The July 27 shooting happened after the man who was shot allegedly ran at officers while armed with knives. The investigation into that incident is ongoing.
