News Release
SIU Concludes Renfrew Investigation
Case Number: 07-PFD-066
Other News Releases Related to Case 07-PFD-066
Mr. Foster, 24 years of age, died on April 7, 2007, after he was fatally shot during a confrontation with an OPP officer.
The SIU investigation determined that on that date OPP officers responded to a family disturbance call at 90 Bonnechere Street North in Renfrew. Mrs. Foster told police her two sons were fighting and that Michael was intoxicated and very aggressive. The police were then told that Michael had left the home and gone to retrieve a firearm. He returned moments later and armed himself with an air rifle and knives.
The first responding officer arrived at 4:21 p.m. and parked outside of the home while she waited for backup to arrive. Mr. Foster came running out of the home and approached the cruiser with at least two knives raised above his head. The officer accelerated past Mr. Foster to the end of the street, made a U-turn, and came back. In the meantime, Mr. Foster had run back inside the home. His brother handed the air rifle to the officer, who put it in the trunk of the cruiser.
The second officer arrived moments later and got out of his cruiser. Mr. Foster came back out of the house with three knives held over his head. He seemed fixated on the second officer and walked towards him.
Mr. Foster ignored the officer's repeated commands to drop his weapons and taunted the officer to shoot him. The subject officer backed away across the roadway as he tried to maintain a safe distance. Mr. Foster continued to advance toward the officer and when he was about 20 feet away, he threw a knife in the officer's direction. At about this time, the officer drew his gun, pointed it at Mr. Foster and warned him to stop and put his weapons down. Mr. Foster ignored the officer's commands and continued to advance. The officer retreated to the opposite curb of Bonnechere Street and fired one shot at Mr. Foster, who was about 10 feet away. Mr. Foster was struck in the chest, collapsed on the road and dropped the knives.
The officer immediately went over to Mr. Foster and began to administer first aid. Mr. Foster was taken to Renfrew Victoria Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Based on all the available evidence, Director Cornish concluded that the involved officer was legally justified, under the provision of section 25(3) of the Criminal Code of Canada when he fatally shot Mr. Foster. The Director stated, "The events unfolded quickly upon the subject officer's arrival. The officer did not immediately draw his firearm although he was confronted with a man armed with 3 knives; he only did so after there was an escalation and approach. The officer issued repeated commands and retreated backwards for some distance, shooting only after Mr. Foster had approached to within some 10 feet and the officer had reached the end of the roadway. In all of the circumstances, it is entirely reasonable to conclude that the subject officer had an honest and reasonable belief that it was necessary to shoot Mr. Foster in order to protect himself from either death or grievous bodily harm."
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