SIU Concludes Investigation into Man Fatally Shot by Sault Ste. Marie Police Officer
Case Number:
24-OFD-202
Mississauga, ON (13 May, 2025) ---
The Special Investigations Unit found no reasonable grounds to believe a Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old man. On May 11, 2024, an officer discharged his firearm at the man five times. He was pronounced deceased in hospital.
Police were first called to a store on Second Line West in relation to the man causing a disturbance. After determining the man was not a threat to himself or others, the man was allowed to leave on his scooter. He then rode to an area near Peoples Road and attempted to speak to three females on the sidewalk. Police were called again. Officers spoke with the man and they offered him a ride home. During a voluntary search, officers discovered a bulge in his pocket. The man said it was a gun and pulled out what appeared to be a small semi-automatic pistol and pointed it at the officer. The officer responded with a volley of gunfire in rapid succession. First aid was provided until an ambulance arrived. The gun was later determined to have been a cigarette lighter designed in the fashion of a small semi-automatic pistol.
Director Joseph Martino was satisfied that the force used by the officer was reasonable. If the officer believed that he was staring at a firearm pointed in his direction at close range, and he accepted that he did, then he had no other recourse than to fire his weapon. Retreat or withdrawal were not available given the immediacy of the threat. And no other option, including less-lethal weapons at the officer’s disposal, would have sufficed to deter the prospect of imminent gunfire.
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 (municipal, regional and provincial police officers, police officers with the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, 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
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Kristy Denette, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES
