Director's Report Details

The Special Investigations Unit is a civilian law enforcement agency that investigates incidents involving an official where there has been death, serious injury, the discharge of a firearm at a person or an allegation of sexual assault. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019 (SIU Act), officials are defined as police officers, special constables of the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers under the Legislative Assembly Act. The SIU’s jurisdiction covers more than 50 municipal, regional and provincial police services across Ontario.

Under the SIU Act, the Director of the SIU must determine based on the evidence gathered in an investigation whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that a criminal offence was committed. If such grounds exist, the Director has the authority to lay a criminal charge against the official. Alternatively, in cases where no reasonable grounds exist, the Director cannot lay charges. Where no charges are laid, a report of the investigation is prepared and released publicly, except in the case of reports dealing with allegations of sexual assault, in which case the SIU Director may consult with the affected person and exercise a discretion to not publicly release the report having regard to the affected person’s privacy interests.

Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019

Pursuant to section 34, certain information may not be included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• The name of, and any information identifying, a subject official, witness official, civilian witness or affected person.
• Information that may result in the identity of a person who reported that they were sexually assaulted being revealed in connection with the sexual assault.
• Information that, in the opinion of the SIU Director, could lead to a risk of serious harm to a person.
• Information that discloses investigative techniques or procedures.
• Information, the release of which is prohibited or restricted by law.
• Information in which a person’s privacy interest in not having the information published clearly outweighs the public interest in having the information published.

Freedom of Information and Protection of Personal Privacy Act

Pursuant to section 14 (i.e., law enforcement), certain information may not be included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Confidential investigative techniques and procedures used by law enforcement agencies; and
• Information that could reasonably be expected to interfere with a law enforcement matter or an investigation undertaken with a view to a law enforcement proceeding.

Pursuant to section 21 (i.e., personal privacy), protected personal information is not included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• The names of persons, including civilian witnesses, and subject and witness officials;
• Location information;
• Witness statements and evidence gathered in the course of the investigation provided to the SIU in confidence; and
• Other identifiers which are likely to reveal personal information about individuals involved in the investigation.

Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004

Pursuant to this legislation, any information related to the personal health of identifiable individuals is not included.

Other proceedings, processes, and investigations

Information may also have been excluded from this report because its release could undermine the integrity of other proceedings involving the same incident, such as criminal proceedings, coroner’s inquests, other public proceedings and/or other law enforcement investigations.

Pursuant to section 15 of the SIU Act, the SIU may investigate the conduct of officials, be they police officers, special constables of the Niagara Parks Commission or peace officers under the Legislative Assembly Act, that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm at a person.

A person sustains a “serious injury” for purposes of the SIU’s jurisdiction if they: sustain an injury as a result of which they are admitted to hospital; suffer a fracture to the skull, or to a limb, rib or vertebra; suffer burns to a significant proportion of their body; lose any portion of their body; or, as a result of an injury, experience a loss of vision or hearing.

In addition, a “serious injury” means any other injury sustained by a person that is likely to interfere with the person’s health or comfort and is not transient or trifling in nature.

This report relates to the SIU’s investigation into the serious injuries of a 23-year-old woman (the “Complainant”).

Notification of the SIU[1]

On January 30, 2026, at 9:06 p.m., the London Police Service (LPS) contacted the SIU with the following information.

On January 30, 2026, at approximately 6:33 p.m., LPS received a phone call from a person in crisis (now known to be the Complainant) indicating she was on the Thames - Oxford Rail Bridge and going to jump. Uniform officers were dispatched to the location along with Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The Subject Official (SO) and her auxiliary partner, Officer #1, arrived in the area of the bridge. The SO ran up to the bridge and yelled, “Stop, do not jump,” but the Complainant ran to the edge and jumped over the side. She landed feet-first on the snow-covered rocks, approximately 3.6 metres below the bridge. EMS attended and observed both ankles to be “angulated”, which was a type of fracture. EMS transported the Complainant to the London Victoria Hospital (LVH) where she was treated for injuries.

The Team

Date and time team dispatched: 2026/01/30 at 9:55 p.m.

Date and time SIU arrived on scene: 2026/01/31 at 7:52 a.m.

Number of SIU Investigators assigned: 3

Number of SIU Forensic Investigators assigned: 0

Affected Person (aka “Complainant”)

23-year-old female; interviewed; medical records obtained and reviewed

The Complainant was interviewed on February 1, 2026.

Subject Official

SO Declined interview, as is the subject official’s legal right; notes received and reviewed

Witness Officials

WO #1 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

WO #2 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

WO #3 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

The witness officials were interviewed between February 11 and 17, 2026.

The Scene

The events in question transpired on and around the Thames – Oxford Rail Bridge, located at Oxford Street West and Gunn Street, London. The bridge was located behind the London Denture Clinic and Hearing Care, approximately 20 metres from the clinic car park.

Video/Audio/Photographic Evidence[2]

LPS Communications Recordings – 911

On January 30, 2026, the Complainant called 911 and advised she was on a bridge west of Oxford Street, intending to jump. The Complainant was told that LPS officers and EMS were on their way. She advised her life was not in a great spot. The Complainant subsequently indicated that she heard police officers coming and then that she saw the police officers, but that she was going to jump. The police call-taker told her several times not to jump, and that help was coming. The Complainant said a police officer called out to her, but she was going to jump now.

LPS Communications Recordings – Radio

On January 30, 2026, at 6:29 p.m., the SO was dispatched to check the welfare of the Complainant on the railway bridge. Officer #2, WO #2 and WO #1 assisted, and WO #3 was notified.

EMS was contacted.

At 6:33 p.m., the SO advised she could see the Complainant. Thirty-six seconds later, WO #1 advised that the Complainant had jumped. The SO requested EMS and indicated that the Complainant had jumped off the bridge onto rocks and landed on her feet. She was awake and in pain.

EMS arrived at 6:38 p.m. The Complainant was taken to LVH.

Body-worn Camera (BWC) Footage - The SO

The SO arrived in a car park at 6:32 p.m., January 30, 2026, exited and ran towards a train bridge. The Complainant was captured standing at the edge of a wall on the bridge. Less than a minute later, the SO arrived near the peak of a snowbank and yelled out, “No,” as the Complainant jumped feet first to the ground below.

The SO ran down the snow-covered bank to the Complainant’s location and requested EMS. The SO comforted the Complainant while waiting for EMS.

EMS arrived at 6:40 p.m., and the Complainant was eventually carried up the hill to the ambulance.

Video Footage from London Denture Clinic and Hearing Care

SIU obtained two video recordings from the London Denture Clinic and Hearing Care. Neither of the recordings showed the Complainant jump; however, they did capture her walking to the spot from where she jumped, and the subsequent arrival of emergency vehicles.

At 6:13 p.m., January 30, 2026, the Complainant walked northward towards the train bridge and disappeared from view.

At 6:32 p.m., a LPS police cruiser arrived with emergency lights flashing, shortly followed by three more cruisers. LPS officers ran towards the location where the Complainant was last observed.

At 6:38 p.m., EMS arrived and, at 6:48 p.m., the Complainant was placed in the ambulance.

Materials Obtained from Police Service

Upon request, the SIU received the following materials from the LPS between February 1, 2026, and February 18, 2026:

• Police communications recordings
• Computer-aided Dispatch Report
• General Occurrence Report
• Scene photographs

• BWC footage – the SO
• Notes – the SO, WO #1, WO #2 and WO #3

• LPS Mental Health Crisis Response Policy

Materials Obtained from Other Sources

The SIU obtained the following records from the following other sources between February 2, 2026, and February 3, 2026:

• The Complainant’s medical records from LVH
• Video footage from London Denture Clinic and Hearing Care

The evidence collected by the SIU, including interviews with the Complainant and video footage that captured the incident in part, gives rise to the following scenario. As was her legal right, the SO did not agree an interview with the SIU. She did authorize the release of her notes.

In the evening of January 30, 2026, the Complainant made her way to the Thames – Oxford Rail Bridge. Her intention was to jump from the bridge. She called 911 to advise emergency responders of her intention and provided them her location. Two call-takers – one from the LPS and another from the ambulance service – spoke to the Complainant. They assured her she had done the right thing by calling them, asked her not to jump from the bridge, and told her help was on its way. The Complainant stayed on the line for several minutes. At the very end, she told the police call-taker that she could hear and see responding police officers, and that she was going to jump. She proceeded to do just that. The time was 6:33 p.m.

The SO was the first officer on scene. She stopped her cruiser in a parking lot by the southwest side of the bridge, exited and was making her way to the Complainant’s position when the Complainant jumped from the bridge onto some snow-covered rocks below. The officer provided care and comfort to the Complainant while they waited for paramedics.

The Complainant was transported to hospital and diagnosed with fractures of the feet and left knee.

Sections 219 and 221, Criminal Code - Criminal Negligence Causing Bodily Harm

219 (1) Every one is criminally negligent who

(a) in doing anything, or

(b) in omitting to do anything that it is his duty to do,

shows wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons.

(2) For the purposes of this section, duty means a duty imposed by law.

221 Every person who by criminal negligence causes bodily harm to another person is guilty of (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years; or (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

The Complainant was seriously injured in a fall from a bridge in London on January 30, 2026. As she had called for police, and police were arriving and in the vicinity at the time of her fall, the SIU was notified of the incident and initiated an investigation. The SO was identified as the subject official. The investigation is now concluded. On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the SO committed a criminal offence in connection with the Complainant’s injuries.

The offence that arises for consideration is criminal negligence causing bodily harm contrary to section 221 of the Criminal Code. The offence is reserved for serious cases of neglect that demonstrate a wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons. It is predicated, in part, on conduct that amounts to a marked and substantial departure from the level of care that a reasonable person would have exercised in the circumstances. In the instant case, the question is whether there was a want of care on the part of the SO, sufficiently egregious to attract criminal sanction, that caused or contributed to the Complainant’s injuries. There clearly was not.

The SO was engaged in the exercise of her duty when she responded to the Thames – Oxford Rail Bridge. Aware that the Complainant was thinking of jumping from the bridge and had called police to report her intentions and location, the police were duty bound to attend at the bridge to do what they reasonably could to prevent harm coming to the Complainant.

The SO was making her way to the bridge across a parking lot when she observed the Complainant on the outer ledge of the bridge guard rail preparing to jump. The officer was a distance south of the Complainant, below the bridge, when she proclaimed, “No!” just before the Complainant jumped. The SO radioed what had happened and provided aid to the Complainant pending the arrival of an ambulance. On this record, there is no evidence of any want of care on the part of the SO in her dealings with the Complainant. She simply had no time in which to do anything to prevent the Complainant from jumping.

For the foregoing reasons, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case. The file is closed.

Date: May 27, 2026

Electronically approved by

Joseph Martino

Director

Special Investigations Unit