The Special Investigations Unit has cleared two Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officers of any criminal wrongdoing in a shooting incident on Pine Street in September 2021 that left a 19-year-old man dead.
The full text of the news release follows:
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that two Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officers committed a criminal offence in connection with the death of a 19-year-old man last September after an exchange of gunfire with police.
In the early morning of Sept. 19, 2021, officers responded to a residence on Pine Street after receiving a 911 call about a man, believed to have a firearm, threatening the lives of two people. Officers located the man outside the residence and drew their firearms. The man removed a firearm from his hoodie and shot multiple rounds at officers. One shot struck an officer in the left leg. Two officers returned fire and then took cover. One officer saw the man still standing and fired his weapon again. The man fell to the ground and, seconds later, shot himself in the head. Paramedics attended and pronounced the man dead at the scene.
Director Martino concluded that the subject officials were legally justified in firing their weapons to thwart an imminent risk of serious harm or death. He was satisfied that the two subject officials comported themselves lawfully in connection with the exchange of gunfire that preceded the man’s death. The file has been closed.
– SooToday