Ontario's Special Investigations Unit has determined there are no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges against an OPP officer who discharged his firearm at a man in the village of Whitechurch in September of 2018.
The SIU report indicates an OPP officer stopped a vehicle on Whitechurch Street shortly after midnight on September 7, 2018. One man got out of the vehicle, and the driver fled the scene in the vehicle.
There was an interaction between the 30-year-old man and the officer. The male suspect indicated he had a weapon in a backpack, and made a move to remove something from the backpack. The officer discharged his firearm, and the man was injured in the arm. He surrendered and was transported to hospital for treatment.
The officer was treated for a head injury he suffered when he hit his head on the pavement during the struggle. Police later seized a sawed-off shotgun from the backpack.
The interim director of the SIU, Joseph Martino, stated in his report that there is a reason to suspect that neither account provides a full picture. An independent witness provided a statement that contradicted both accounts in some respects.
But Martino added the discrepancies do not tip the balance one way or the other in terms of potential charges against the officer.
