As yet there are no more answers from the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) about the circumstances leading to the deaths of two South Simcoe police officers and an Alcona man the night of Oct. 11-12.
“There are no updates at this time,” SIU communications co-ordinator Kristy Denette said Tuesday afternoon.
The SIU has had six investigators and three forensic investigators investigating the shootings.
Constables Morgan Russell, 54, and Devon Northrup, 33, were shot and killed just more than a month ago by a man inside an Alcona home in Innisfil.
The officers had responded to what police called a ‘disturbance’ call from a family member at the home on Somers Boulevard, located in the area of the 25th Sideroad and the 9th Line, at approximately 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
They were rushed by ambulance to hospital, where Northrup died.
Russell was airlifted to a Toronto trauma centre and died of his injuries early the next morning.
The 22-year-old man identified as the shooter was pronounced dead at the scene after an "exchange of gunfire" with a third officer at the scene, according to police. The man had a SKS semi-automatic rifle, according to the SIU, which has also stated neither Russell nor Northrup had drawn their weapons.
The man has been identified as Chris Doncaster, who lived at the residence with his grandparents.
The SIU is independent of any police service and operates at arm’s length from the Ministry of the Attorney General. It is a civilian law enforcement agency in Ontario that has jurisdiction over municipal, regional and provincial police officers, as well as special constables employed by the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service.
The SIU director may cause a criminal investigation to be conducted into any incident in which any of the following occurs, if the incident may have resulted from criminal conduct by an official: the death of a person, the serious injury of a person, the discharge of a firearm at a person, the sexual assault of a person, as reported by the person.
The SIU has information on balancing transparency with its investigations on its website. It says the tension between the need for an agency such as the SIU to share information with the public and the obligation to keep certain information confidential because of legal and policy restrictions presents a constant challenge.
This requires a balancing act, says the SIU, as the needs and sensitivities of the media, complainants, the community, law enforcement and the SIU all have to be considered within a legislative framework. It is imperative, the SIU says, to ensure that the information released is fair, does not prejudice the investigation and does not violate the privacy rights of those involved.
In all cases, the SIU says it attempts to strike a proper balance between disclosing as much information as possible to the public while keeping in mind the need to protect witness confidentiality and to guard the rights to privacy that are protected by law.
