The province’s police watchdog has cleared the OPP in the death of a 77-year-old man in Victoria Harbour last spring.
In his report released Wednesday, Special Investigations Unit (SIU) director Joseph Martino determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe that any officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the man’s self-inflicted gunshot death.
According to the report that identifies the man as the ‘Complainant,’ he had been struggling with his mental and physical health in the latter years of his life.
The incident began shortly after 6 p.m. on May 20 when the man made a “cryptic” 911 call to police during which he mentioned his spouse and then observed that he could “no longer take it.”
When Southern Georgian Bay OPP officers arrived at the Victoria Harbour residence a short time later, they proceeded to knock on the single-storey home’s front door. When they received no response, they made their way to the back of the house where they eventually located the man seated in a chair in the backyard.
“He was holding in his right hand a silver revolver pressed to his right temple,” the report noted. “His head was bobbing up and down, giving the appearance of someone struggling to stay awake.”
One of the first officers on the scene yelled out to the man to ‘not do that’ and then went to meet other responding officers at the front of the house.
“Once at the rear of the home, the officers took up a position some six to nine metres behind the Complainant. The Complainant remained seated in the same lawn chair, his back to the officers and the revolver pointed at his head.”
The officers then planned to first set up some containment around the man before attempting to negotiate with him. But just as one of the officers was preparing to advance closer, the sound of a gunshot was heard.
“The Complainant was still moving and attempting to talk, but he had suffered a grievous wound and was struggling,” the report noted, pointing out officers tried to perform first aid while waiting for the paramedics to arrive.
“Paramedics arrived on scene, took over the Complainant’s care, loaded him in an ambulance and rushed him to hospital. Despite further attempts at resuscitation, the Complainant was pronounced deceased at hospital at 7:17 p.m.”
In his findings, Martino outlined his reasoning behind finding the officers had done nothing wrong.
“As it is apparent that the Complainant pulled the trigger that resulted in his death, the only issue that arises for consideration as far as the potential criminal liability of any police officer is concerned is whether either (officer) contributed to the death by any want of care on their part,” he wrote.
“That is to say, is there any reason to believe that one or both of the officers were criminally negligent in connection with the Complainant’s death? In my view, there is not.
"In speaking with several of the Complainant’s friends and neighbours, the consensus that emerged is that the Complainant took his own life as his health began to deteriorate, not wishing to suffer or be a burden on anybody else. One such witness was of the view that the Complainant orchestrated the final moments of his life to have the police on scene so that his family would not be the ones who found him deceased."
The SIU assigned three investigators and two forensic investigators to the case.
The SIU is an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
Under the Police Services Act, the SIU director must consider whether an officer has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation depending on the evidence, lay a criminal charge against the officer if appropriate or close the file without any charges being laid.
